The Quarter Quell
by aly-hungergames
Summary: Months have passed and Katniss is back home. After the Victory Tour, she finds out she's going back into the arena with Peeta and also with someone in the District she didn't expect! Katniss has to fight through the odds again, and keep the promise she made to Gale to save that someone. Nothing goes the way she expected. Find out what happens in the 3rd Quarter Quell!
1. Chapter 1

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 1:

Katniss's POV:

It's been 10 months since I became a Victor, a survivor, fought against the odds an saved my fellow tribute, Peeta. Everything's different now. I live in big house with air conditioning, bathtubs, queen beds and everything I need. It looks so Capitol like to me, that's why I hate it. I don't even have to go hunting anymore, since I have all the food I need in just a few steps. I haven't seen Gale since me and Peeta came back to District 12. He's a miner now, and has to go deep into the earth to mine our mountains from dawn to night. Not everything has changed. My younger sister, Prim, still goes to school and gets treated the same, and my mother still works as a nurse, curing the injured and the sick, which are mostly the miners. The citizens of District 12 have gone back to normal now. Everyone was enjoying the shower of gifts that the Capitol gives to the District which the Victor is from. The gifts is just a little bit of food and anything else we need. The Capitol is the true winner. The citizens of my home work like a regular day now, but really, there waiting just like everybody else for the next day, the old train warehouse in our district, that's now our town square, turned into a studio with lights, cameras and screens for the reaping once a year. This year is the 3rd Annual Quarter Quell. A Quarter Quell is a Hunger Games, but different. Every 25 years, the Capitol does something different in the games. They can multiply the amount of Tributes, or make an insane arena, or anything that comes up into there minds, but there always has to be 1 Victor. Haymitch won the 2nd Annual Quarter Quell (The 50th Annual Huner Games) of 48 Tributes, meaning that there were 4 Tributes from each District. I don't know how Haymitch won, but the odds must've been in his favor. I also don't know what happened to his family, did the Capitol do something? Did he ever know love? I don't know. I must have been so young to remember. Prim couldn't possibly remember since she was a baby. Now that the parties are over and the cameras have left, all I do is cuddle up in a chair, drink tea, even though in just a few minutes the warmth from it disappears. I can't sleep at night since the nightmares from the games always wakes me up. It starts with me rising into the arena and all the tributes looking at each other; then we all start running and I see Peeta run in the opposite direction. I turn back around and see Tributes killing each other and fighting. Then I see the girl from District 4, Tara, run off with a bag. I run to a bag that I spotted and I trip. The boy from 9, Imanol, almost gets me with an axe, but Clove, the girl from 2, throws a knife and he dies. She almost gets me but I cover myself with the bag and run off. I skip to the Tracker Jackers; I see Glimmer screaming and trying to shoot some of the Tracker Jackers down but it's hopeless and she collapse on the ground. I change to another scene. I look down and I see Rue. I start singing her the llullabay my father taught me, the "District 12 Llullabay", as tears stream down my face and she dies. I skip to the mutts devouring Cato. Then I stare into Peeta's blue eyes, thinking of the kiss we had in the cave. I pour some nightlock berries, the ones that killed Foxface, the girl from 5, into his hand and as we are about to eat them, a voice rings through the whole arena saying that we've won and that's when I wake up screaming and sweating. As the tears go down my face, my door opens and Prim walks in and gives me a big hug to calm me down, which it works just a bit, while my mother gets me a drink and medicine to help me sleep. But nothing helps me. I try to forget it, like it never happened, but the memory haunts me. As I sit with my knees up to my chest, while holding my cup of tea, I see dawn peering through the woods and bringing me to a day I wanted to avoid but can't. The Victory tour starts tomorrow and today we have to get ready and take off. I slowly put both my feet in the ground and stretch my muscles. I walk up the stairs to my room. I put on some hunting pants and a shirt, fix my braid from the mess it is and go downstairs without even thinking of brushing my teeth. I walk up to the door, I touch the door knob and it's cold as ice. I twist it open and go outside to the cold breeze that hits me directly. I hear the mockingjays whistle from a distance, like there singing a beautiful morning llullabay. I go down the front steps, the little rays of the sun shooting above. I haven't gone outside in such a long time! I start walking through the Seam, where I used to live and stop dead in my tracks. It's my house. My old house I use to live in. It brings a smile to my face remembering the good memories I had there and dreading the bad ones. I slowly walk inside, as the floor creaks every time I move. I look around, knowing the big difference between this house and then one I live in now. I walk upstairs into the room I used to share with Prim. Our beds are still there; I sit on Prim's old bed, remembering the day before the reaping that Prim had a terrible nightmare and I was calming her down, and we both sang the "District 12 Llullabay". I get up and walk to my closet, where my father's hunting jacket still hangs there. I take it out and shake all the dust from it and it makes me cough. I put the jacket on and I look at myself in the mirror, and what I see is a 16-year-old girl. I look the same, just like I did before the games, but just a few inches taller. I have my brown hair and gray seam eyes from my father. I walk out of the house and jog over to the woods. I see the electric fence. Never fully on, I go through it and into the woods. I find the tree where I keep my arrows and then the trunk where I keep my bow and take away the little cobwebs. As I go running through the woods and try to find something to shoot, I instead find rue flowers. I stare down at them. My eyes fill with tears. The image of Rue dying in my arms makes the tears escape. I wipe them away and go on. When I'm about to give up, I see a tree filled with groosling birds. The birds that me and Rue shared in the arena. I shake my head to let the memory go away before I start crying in the middle of the woods. I quietly walk into an angle I can shoot a bird down. I pick a rock and throw it at the tree's branches, just like Gale did the day before the reaping. It feels lonely here without him by my side. I make the birds fly away and I quickly take an arrow and shoot, making a bird fall to the ground. By my surprise, the arrow landed in its eye. I walk over to it and pick it up. It's a bit heavy and that's good because it means it's got a lot of meat. I pull the arrow from its eye slowly and throw it away. I walk to the tree and trunk where I had my arrows and bow and leave them there again. I go out of the woods with the bird in my arms. I go through the Seam again, some people have already awaken and stare at me as I pass. I ignore them and make my way to Gale's house. He might not be there, probably down in the mines already. He only has Sunday off and today is Saturday. As I reach closer, I see a small figure, very much like Prim but with brown hair and hazel eyes; it's Posy, Gale's little sister. She's 12 years old. Posy jumps up and down trying to clean a shelve that's too high for her. The floor creaks from each jump.

"Hi." I say. I must have scared her because she shrieks.

"Sorry," I say giggilig "Did I scare you?"

"No I shriek all the time." Posy says sarcastically.

"Sorry, my bad." I say staring into her hazel eyes, who aren't clearly her mother's, but her father's. Gale and his younger twin brothers, Rory and Vick, (Rory is older than Vick for only 2 minutes) have the eyes of there mother. Gray seem like me. His father died in the same mining accident that killed my father. Posy never met his father because she was a baby just like Prim, and Vick and Rory were little kids. Gale was old enough to remember. Posy smiles at me and then speaks.

"So how have you been? I haven't seen you in a while." Posy says while she goes in for a hug. We hug and I stroke her hair just like I do to Prim when I hug her.

"I've been fine." I say as we let go. "How are you?"

"Fine, I'm just helping my mom clean."

"Where's Vick and Rory?"

"The bakery. So what brings you here?"

"I wanted to give you this." I say handing her the bird carefuly.

"Thank you!" Posy says. "I'll call mom to take it in, and she's dying to see you." Posy calls for her mom and Hazelle comes out and takes the bird. When she sees me she runs over to me and hugs me.

"What a surprise! Aren't you suppose to be getting ready for the tour today?" Hazelle asks me.

"Yeah, but I wanted to drop that off first." I answer.

"Thank You so much! This will make a great dinner!" Hazelle says "Should I tell Gale you came over?"

"No it's ok, mabey I'll meet him in the woods tomorrow." I say.

"Gale hasn't taken me there in a long time." Posy protests.

"Mabey he'll take you soon, honey." Says Hazelle and kisses her at the top of her head. Vick and Rory arrive with bread.

"And here's the bread!" says Rory

"Katniss!" Vick says excitedly.

"Hi!" I say.

"Where have you been? You've missed all of our new inventions!"

"I've been at home, and I'll check them out soon when I can!"

"Awesome!" they both say and go inside the house.

"And then soon the house explodes and it's all there fault." Posy says and goes inside.

"There so grown up. How old are they again?" I say after I laugh at Posy's joke.

"Vick and Rory are 14." Hazelle says.

"They're taller than I remembered." I say.

"They grow up real quick." Hazelle says.

"Yeah, well, I gotta get going." I say.

"Of course, thanks for the game, Katniss!" Hazelle says.

"Your Welcome, tell'em I said bye!" I say.

"Sure, and enjoy the food!" Hazelle says.

"I will, bye!" I say and take off to my house. I get a negative feeling as I get nearer. When I go inside, I find 2 peacekeepers in the kitchen with my mom and Prim.

"What's going on?" I ask starting to get worried.

"Katniss, It—" but she's cut off by a peacekeeper.

"Just come with us, Ms. Everdeen." He says. We go inside our dining room and in a chair, sits President Snow.


	2. Chapter 2

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 2:

Katniss's POV:

What is the President of Panem doing in my home?! I must be in serious trouble or he wouldn't have come so far. Was it the trick with the berries? Or does he know that the Star-Crossed Lovers was just an act? I start to get worried inside but I try not to show it. I sit down on a chair with the coffee table keeping a distance between us. On the coffee table, I see my mom has left us a tray with 2 cups of teas for the both of us, napkins and a plate filled with cookies. On top of the cookies, I can tell it was Peeta who drew the perfect delicate beautiful design of a lily flower in different colors for each cookie. President Snow takes a sip from his cup of tea and then picks up a cookie with the design of an orange lily flower. Snow stares at the design and then speaks.

"Did the love of your life made these?" Snow asks, staring at the cookie and then my eyes.

"Yes." I respond. He takes a small bite from the cookie and gently swallows it.

"As you may know, Ms. Everdeen, I have quite a problem." Snow says steady, "A problem that you've created in the arena." Snow takes a deep breath and continues.

"If my Head-Gamemaker had any clever brains, he would've killed you right there. And do you know where he is now?" As I'm about to shake my head, by the tone of his voice I can tell that Seneca Crane was ordered to be executed. I nod and he continues.

"Exactly. There was nothing left to do, so here you are." Snow says. "In some Districts, citizens re-view your act as an act of defying the Capitol, not of love." He stares at me and it feels uncomfortable.

"Henceforth," continues Snow, "this problem can create uprisings in the Districts. The uprisings can lead to a revolution against the Capitol." There's a long pause and President Snow starts eating his cookie and I finally speak.

"I didn't mean for anything like this to happen." I say.

"Katniss Everdeen, the Girl who was On Fire, has left a spark that may turn to a wild fire and take all Panem with it." Snow says halfway on finishing the cookie.

"What should I do?" I ask.

"You'll be the same on tour as you were in the arena." Snow says. That doesn't take me by surprise. I felt like it was coming.

"I'll be in love with Peeta just as I was."

"Just as you are."

"Just as I am."

"This tour is your only and last chance to fix things." He advices me. I nod

"Make something up if you fall." Snow says and finishes his cup of tea. I nod knowing what he means. It means that if I slip and might do something wrong or anything, to make something up and cover the wound I've left that may give citizens ideas or anything. He grabs another cookie and napkin and leaves the room. I stay in my seat and eat a cookie, they are delicious. I hear Snow thank my mother and Prim for the cookies and tea and the front door close. As my mother and Prim enter the room, a car's engine turns on and drives off.

"Was everything ok?" my mother asks.

"Yes, he just came to congratulate me. He always does it in private." I lie. I can't tell them the truth or they'll get really worried and who knows if I put them in danger.

"Oh, I thought something was wrong." My mother says relived. "Want me to run you a bath? It's almost 3'o clock and your prep team would be here soon."

"Yes please." I say. I can see in her eyes that she's thankfull. I never really ask her for anything since I've me and Prim almost died because she just cuddle up in a chair and shut down the whole world around her when our father died. I belive things are starting to get better. She leaves the room and me and Prim are left alone.

"What really happened?" Prim asks slowly.

"Everything's fine, Prim" I lie. I hate lying to her but its for her safety, "Don't worry." Prim nods.

"Come here." I say calmly and we both hug. I stroke her head just like I always do. Sometimes her hair when she lets it down, but today she has it in a simple French braid.

"I got to go and get myself clean," I say "I'll be back in a bit." Prim nods and I smile at her and leave the room. I find my mom in my bathroom putting the cap to the soap bottle. Bubbles start to burst up with its smell of flowers.

"Thanks." I say.

"You're Welcome. I'll e downstairs if you need me." My mother says with a grin in her face and leaves the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I take my clothes and fold them. I leave them in the counter and let myself slide into the warm water. I just sit there and think of the conversation I had with President Snow. As I do, I hear a car arrive and footsteps up the stairs. My prep team has arrived. When Venia opens the door to my bathroom she shriekds.

"Katniss! What happened to your eyebrows?!"

"They grew." I answer. Venia breaths heavily. She clutches her chest with her right hand. Octavia pats her in the back to try and calm her down.

"There there, Venia. It's goint to be ok. The real problem here is her nails!" shrieks Octavia. "What am I going to do?!"

"Well at least Katniss followed me instructions." Flavius says happy. "She didn't cut her hair."

"Yeah. Nobody has cut it." I say gratefully. I'm glad I remembered Flavius rules. Not exactly remember, I just had my hair in its usual braid and I didn't notice it growing. At least I feel like I didn't let them all down completely.

"We might as well get started." Venia says, and they do. I dry myself as they start getting there things ready. I put on a robe and sit in a chair that they set out for me, close my eyes, relax, and let them start their work. Venia plucks my eyebrows as Octavia does my nails and Flavius moisturizes my hair and puts all sorts of creams in my body. I get shaved and wax, trimmed, polished and a bit of tweezing. Those 3 hours also were also spend with the 3 of them talking about how the games were a bit hit in the Capitol and how their all excited for the 3rd Annual Quarter Quell and how I can be a mentor. I pretend to listen but I'm really not. I'm still focusing on my conversation with President Snow. I also don't think I'm ready to be mentor. Me, sitting in a table with kids that may not even be as lucky as I was and die in the bloodbath if I don't give them the correct advice. When they're done, they say they'll meet me in the train and leave me in the room alone. I stare at myself in the mirror. I look just like I did before the games when I was introduced to them in the Remake Center in the Capitol. I hear a light knock on my door.

"Come in." I say. Cinna comes in, with his usual black clothes and gold eyeliner. Seeing him brings a smile to my face.

"How's my Girl on Fire?" Cinna asks.

"She's fine." I respond, knowing that he means me. We hug each other and then let go.

"It's starting to snow outside so I made you some warm clothes." Cinna says pulling a bag and opening the zipper, revealing some warm winter clothes. I look outside my window from a distance and he's right. It's starting to snow. I see the small snowflakes fly down and some of them landing in my window. Cinna hands me some flowing black pants made out of thick material, a comfortable white shirt, a sweater woven from green, blue and gray strands of kitten-wool and earmuff. I hate earmuffs, they are uncomfortable and I can't hear a thing. Then Cinna hands me some leather boots.

"Try it on." Cinna says sweetly. I put all the clothes on and leave the earmuffs for when I go outside. I'm in no hurry to go outside. I stare at myself in the mirror, admiring the clothes and then Cinna appears.

"Do you like?" Cinna asks.

"I love. There so pretty, like always." I say and he smiles.

"Why don't we see what the others think?" Cinna asks. I nod and he opens the door to my bed room and lets me out first. Downstairs and I find Effie sitting in a chair, checking her schedule. I haven't seen her in a long time. She was my escort when I was in the Capitol. In the couch, sits my mother and Prim. When Effie looks up from her schedule she finally notices me.

"Oh!" shrieks Effie excited "That outfit looks magnificent!" I smile at her and then turn to my mother and Prim who stare at me in awed.

"What do you think?" I ask my mother and Prim.

"It's pretty." My mother says.

"You look beautiful." Prim says and I smile at her. I don't expect a better answer since there not use to seeing me in this sort of clothes.

"Well we better get going!" says Effie "We wouldn't want to start off late!". Effie gets up and goes outside with Cinna following her. I walk over to Prim and give her a hug goodbye.

"I'll see you as soon as I get back!" I say to Prim and she gives me a kiss in the cheek. I turn to my mom.

"Good Luck." She whispers and drops something small in my hands. I look at it and it's my mockingjay pin. All the memories it holds could bring me to tears but it still gives me good luck in other ways. I look at my mom and smile.

"Thank You." I say and give her a hug. I go outside where I see most of the road is already covered in piles of snow. Some camera crews come over to us and start taking pictures. I stand there smiling and waving. In a distance I see Peeta come up with his stylist, Postia, and his prep team, Aries, Isaac and Liver. I smile just seeing the sight of him. I have to do it for the cameras. I start walking and then I start running over to him, and he to me. When we reach each other, I throw my arms around him and we both fall to a pile of snow. The camera crews run over to us and start taking pictures like crazy. I stare into his hazel eyes and he to my gray seam eyes. We both kiss. I ignore the fact that we're not alone, that this is not a way I wanted it to happen, but it still does. I get up and give him a hand so he can get up. We both walk to the train, holding hands and the camera crews still taking pictures of us. As the train starts to run it's almost 8pm already and I'm changed to my pajamas. We dine at the table just me, Peeta, Effie, Haymitch, Cinna and Portia; the old team. Over dinner, Effie discusses the schedule for tomorrow; then I'm forced to go to sleep for the big day tomorrow. Tomorrow starts the Victory Tour.


	3. Chapter 3

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 3:

Katniss's POV:

As the train moves through the train tracks in 200 miles per hour, I lie down in my bed trying to go to sleep but I just can't. The conversation I had with President Snow is hunting me now. I need to tell someone. I get up and put my slippers that are beside my bed. I carefully walk towards the door hoping not to trip over anything since it's completely dark. I twist the knob open and into the hall. Everything is quiet but I can hear a TV in a distance. I walk closer and I see Haymitch, sitting in a small couch drinking wine; like always. The smell hits me directly but I try to ignore it.  
"Why aren't you in bed?" Haymitch says a bit harshly before I can even speak. He sees me through the reflection of the TV.  
"I need to tell you something." I say.  
"Sure." he says taking another big gulp of his bottle of wine. He pats the space that's left in the couch for me to sit down and I do. The smell gets stronger and I can't stand it but I still have to tell him. I tell him the entire conversation over me and President Snow and to say the truth, it feels good telling someone and not keeping it all to myself. It takes a moment before he responses and takes another gulp of his cup.  
"So can you just-" I begin but he cuts me off.  
"It's not just this tour," he begins "Look, they'll be back in 2 months to the districts to do the reapings. Peeta and you will be mentors. They'll still be broadcasts about your life with him. You won't be able to have a private life. You'll live happily ever after with him and the Capitol will think your living like in a fairy tale." Haymitch says smiling. My heart sinks as he says that to me. I won't be able to be free. My life would always be an act. At least Prim doesn't have to worry about all this. I still have a couple of years since I'm still 16. The only future I have is to marry Peeta to keep those I love alive; Prim and my mother, Gale and his family. Good.

"Now leave so I can finish watching my show" Haymitch says. I look at the screen confused. It's not even a show his watching. It's a channel where they give commercials; where right now there giving a commercial about new purple stone earrings that come from District 2. District 2 is Masonry; which means: work constructed by mason, especially stone work. District 2 reminds me of Cato, and even though he's gone, I still see him in my nightmares every night. I get up from the couch, finally leaving the smell of wine behind and walk back to my room. I take off my slippers and put them aside and crawl back into bed. Now I just think about what Haymitch said. Do I really have to marry Peeta? I don't know how I feel about him yet. Maybe this trip will help me figure it out. As dawn comes before my sleep does, there's a little knock on door that means I should be waking up. I don't have trouble with that since I'm already awake. I get out bed and put my slippers back on again. I walk out of my room and into the dining cart. On the table, only sits Effie and me. On my plate, the kitchen staff prepared me a lamb stew with dried plums and other delicacies; also orange juice and a pot of steaming hot chocolate, my favorite. I sit at the opposite chair of Effie. She eats delicately while checking her schedule. Manners matter so much to her that sometimes it gets in my nerves.  
"Where's everyone else?" I ask  
"Well, Cinna and Portia were working all night on the outfits, who knows where Haymitch is and Peeta and his team are still asleep. Your team woke up a long time ago to get ready." She says not even looking at me because checking her schedule is her mission in life.  
"But, doesn't Peeta need prepping?" I ask  
"Not like you do." she says taking a small sip from her juice. I spend my entire morning being torture while he sleeps?! Great.  
"Oh," I say "What's our first stop?"  
"District 11." Effie says steady, still checking her schedule. My heart sinks. That was Rue's home. Rue is the girl that I couldn't save in the arena. I rather stop at any other District first. This year we're starting from 11 'till 1 and my district would be last. I try to hold back the tears so I won't start crying. When I'm done I let the kitchen staff take my plate and I walk to my room where Flavius, Octavia and Venia, my prep team, already set up everything and they start working; and by working, I mean torturing me. By the time there done with me it's mid-day and I see Peeta, Effie, Portia, Haymitch and Cinna are already eating lunch. I sit down and star eating also. I'm so nervous because everything depends on how I act on this tour. I play with the food on my plate but I'm not the only one. Haymitch keeps picking at a muffin. Everyone is talking about stuff but I'm not paying attention; I'm also not in the mood to talk. In the middle of their conversation, the train stops. A voice says that a piece of the train has malfunctioned and it'll take at least an hour to be replaced. Effie angrily takes out her schedule and starts talking on how this stop will damage every single thing.  
"Nobody cares, Effie!" I blurt out. Everyone stares at me in awed. I can't take their stares so I get up and leave the train, some alarm goes off but I ignore it. I keep walking until I reach the end of the train. I walk 100 yards or more, I have 1 hour so I'll make it back in time. I know that if I have a bow and arrows, I'll probably keep going. I let myself fall on the ground. I look around and there's not even one drop of snow in District 11. The trees's leaves are still green, the air warm and I feel the sun burning my skin. I know start to regret my words to Effie. I hear footsteps coming closer, it's obviously Haymitch.  
"I don't want to hear it" I say  
"Hear what?" It's not Haymitch, it's Peeta.  
"Sorry, I thought you were Haymitch coming here to give me a lecture" I say  
"No, he's still whit that muffin" Peeta says sitting down next to me. "Bad day?" I shake my head. He takes a deep breath and I know his going to make a speech.  
"Katniss, I've being meaning to talk to you about the way I acted on the train home. I was jealous about Gale before I met you officially. It wasn't fair to hold you to anything in the Games... and I'm sorry." This takes me by surprise. Peeta did freeze me after I confessed that the love for him was all an act. But I don't hold it against him since I played the act all it was worth.  
"I'm also sorry" I say. I just feel like I should apologize since he's apologizing.  
"There's nothing you should apologizing for. You were trying to keep us alive. Can we have a shot at just being friends?"  
"Okay." I say smiling. His offer makes me feel better and I'm glad were speaking again.  
"So what's the matter?" He asks me. I can't tell him. Just not yet.  
"Nothing." I say "Isn't it weird that we both risked each other's life and we don't even know each other's favorite color." He laughs and answers.  
"Mine's orange"  
"Like Effie's hair?" I ask  
"No, more like the sunset" he says. The sunset... the different shades of orange up in the sky when the sun descends in the mountains of District 12.  
"That's really pretty" I say "Mine's green.

"Good to know." Peeta says happily.

"I heard that you painted some paintings and I feel a bit bad that I haven't seen them." I say.  
"I have a whole cart full, want to see them?" he asks  
"Yeah" I say. He helps me up and we both walk to the cart that's full of his paintings. When he opens the door we both go in and the train starts to move again. I walk closer and I almost die. I was expecting some flowers or even the sunset but no... He painted the games. I see a painting that has a pair of hands, another has the shining horn, known as the Cornucopia; and he also painted some mutts, the tributes that died in the Cornucopia laying dead, the cave, the Carrers and me. I'm in all the paintings. In my cornucopia pedestal, running, up in a tree or right there with him.  
"Do you like them?" he asks me.  
"No." I answer "How do you remember it exactly?"  
"I see them every night." Peeta say. By that he means nightmares, like me.  
"Me too, does it help you paint them out?" I ask  
"I think I'm less afraid at night. Or at least that's what I tell myself. I like better waking up with a paint brush than a knife in my hands." Peeta answers. I smile at him.  
"I think were close to District 11, want to take a look?" Peeta asks me.  
"In a bit," I say "I need to go and apologize to Effie."  
"Ok, I'll wait in the last cart." Peeta tells me. I nod and walk to the dining car where Effie still remains sitting talking to Portia and Cinna. I apologize to her and she accepts it. Effie also tells me that she doesn't blame me since I'm in much pressure about the tour. When I'm done I walk to the last cart where I find him right at the end where the back window retracts into the ceiling so you're riding outside. As the train speeds up to the District, I see the watchtowers are placed apart and armed with Peacekeepers and fields of wildflowers around them. Then crops stretch as far an eye can see. I see citizens wearing straw hats to keep the sun away from their eyes. As the train speeds up they all turn their heads over to us. I wonder if Rue would've worked at collecting fruits from the trees branches. She was pretty good at climb trees. The size of District 11 is huge. I can't even imagine how many people live here. There are no actual numbers on the population here but I'm sure it's a lot. Out of all the kids that are on this District how did Rue ended up as Tribute with only the wind wanting to take her place; it makes me sad just thinking about it. As we are called back to the dining cart, Effie goes through today's schedule. Peeta and me go to our rooms so our stylists can give us our clothes and our prep teams can finish up. As the train pulls into the station Cinna puts the finishing touches, changing my hair band and adjusting my mockingjay pin. As we get off the train, there's a squad of 8 Peacekeepers on the platform, who direct us into the back of an armored truck and closing the door. Effie sniffs and I can tell she's not enjoying this moment. The truck leaves us at the Justice Building. As we walk to the front entrance, I can hear the anthem begin outside. Someone clips a microphone on me and Peeta. We both take hands and our feet start moving. This is it. It's time to prove that I was in love with Peeta and that it wasn't an act of revolution. The mayor introduces us and the entrance doors open. The citizens of District 11 cheer. The hot sun hits us directly. I look down the stage and, again, a special platform has been constructed for the families of the dead tributes. In Thresh's side, there's an old woman with a hunched back and a tall muscular girl who must be his sister. On Rue's side there are 5 younger siblings that look very much like Rue and her mother and father. All their faces are still filled with sorrow. The applause dies down and the mayor gives a speech of honor and two little girls come up with big bouquets full of beautiful flowers. It's our turn to give a speech about Thresh and Rue. Peeta starts off on how Thresh and Rue made it to the final 8 and kept me alive, which means they kept him alive.  
"There's no way to replace your losses" says Peeta to the two families "As a token of our appreciation, we like both of the tribute's family to receive one month of our winnings every year for as long as we live." The whole crowd gasps and murmurs go around. Both of the families stare in shock. I rise and kiss Peeta and it wasn't forced out all. I stare at Rue's mom who looks reproachful, and that's probably because I haven't thanked her daughter. I feel shame, they're starting to leave.  
"Wait!" I yell. Everyone stops from leaving and stare at me.  
"I want to give a thanks to the tributes from District 11." Everyone goes mute directly and wait for me to keep speaking.  
"I only spoke to Thresh ones, but I respected him, for his power, strength and for spearing my life." I see Thresh's sister smiles and so does the old woman. I turn to Rue's family. I feel a knife through my heart. I haven't spoke about her in so long but I need to say something about her, for her family.  
"And Rue... she's one of the reasons why I kept going in the arena. She helped me escape from the Carrers. I see Rue everywhere, in the flowers that grow in the woods, I see her when the mockingjays sing and most of all, I see her in my sister, Prim." A tear leaves my eye and so does in her family. I continue.  
"Rue will always be with me and I will never forget her." Another tear leaves my eyes. I stare at the crowd and someone whistles Rue's 4-note mockingjay tune. The whistler is a wizened old man, then every person presses there 3 middle fingers of their left hand, kisses them, and point them up to the sky. It was my last goodbye to Rue in the arena. I only meant to express my thanks but instead, I created an act of dissent from the citizens of 11 and that's exactly the kind of thing I'm supposed to be defusing! I try to think of something but my microphone has been shut off and the mayor has taken over. We receive one more round of applause and we both walk back to the front doors. As Peeta waits for the others I stare at a window with a few tears living my eyes. As the citizens start to leave, I see to Peacekeepers run over to the whistler and force him to his knees, putting a bullet through his head...


	4. Chapter 4

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 4:

Katniss POV:

As the old man's body falls to the ground, I turn around and the tears from my eyes dry. I only meant to express my thanks. I hear some people scream. I look at Peeta and he looks a bit nervous. I see Haymitch walk up to us and he takes off our microphones from our chests.  
"You two, come with me." Haymitch says. We follow him and behind us I hear 2 more triggers going off. He leads us into a room with fruits carved into the ceiling with fat kid angels. Haymitch closes the door and stares at us.  
"What happened out there?" He asks us. I stay silence while Peeta explains everything.  
"What's happening?" Peeta asks Haymitch.  
"It be better coming from you" Haymitch says. Peeta looks confused and I know it's time to tell him. I tell Peeta about President Snow and how were all in jeopardy if I don't convince the district's that I wasn't defying the Capitol.  
"And I made things worse by giving them the money" Peeta says angrily and strikes at lamp that takes me by surprise.  
"I'm tired of this game you two play!" He yells "You always tell each other everything and nothing to me! Like I'm so inconsequential to handle them!"  
"Peeta, its not-" I begin but he cuts me off.  
"I have families and friends that I care about too, Katniss, they'll die if we don't pull this off!" Peeta yells. I never seen him like this, it's different.  
"Your smart enough to act in the cameras, and I didn't want to distrust that." Haymitch says.  
"I really screwed up today and I'm sure they'll be lucky if they survive they day!" Peeta yells. Haymitch opens his mouth to response but I cut him off.  
"Peeta's right, Haymitch. We should've told him." I say.  
"Also in the arena. You two had some connection" says Peeta. He turns over to Haymich angrily "You send her everything while you left me to die!"  
"Now listen-" starts Haymitch but he cuts him off.  
"I know you have to choose only one. People are dying and more will follow if we're not good. No one needs to coach me, I'm better than Katniss on camera." Says Peeta calming down.  
"You'll be fully informed." Haymitch says. Peeta stares at him and walks out the door without even looking at me.  
"You chose me? But you like Peeta better." I say  
"True. Until the rules changed, I can only get one of you two out there alive." Says Haymitch "I thought since Peeta was determined to protect you, we might be able to bring you home. You'll be able to see the choices you'll have to make, if survive all this. You'll learn." I nod.  
"Now come on, we got a dinner to attend" says Haymitch. We walk out of the room and into the train. The town square is already cleared up and I don't know what the Peacekeepers did with the old man's body. Probably burned it or something. I let my prep team change my make up and put a new one. I change to a pale pink strapless dress that reaches my ankles; my hair falls down my back in a beautiful shower of ringlets. Cinna arranges a shimmering silver wrap around my shoulders and catches my eyes in the mirror.  
"What do you think?" He asks me.  
"It's as beautiful as always." I answer and he smiles.  
"Now let's see how it looks with a beautiful smile." He says. I manage to raise both ends of my mouth. I know that phrase means that there would be cameras again. Cinna smiles at me and we both leave the room and into the platform were we are all assemble to go and eat dinner. Effie goes through today's evening schedule. We climb into a truck where they take us to the town square where everything has been decorated and music starts to play. Me and Peeta's prep team walk first, then Effie, following our stylists, then Haymitch and last but not least, Peeta and me. We take each other's hands getting ready for the applause. As there walking and the crowd cheers Peeta talks over the noise so I could hear him.  
"Haymitch told me I was wrong yelling at you. You were just operating his instructions and it's not like I didn't keep things from you." Peeta says. It's true; he did keep his love for me as a secret and then exposed it. Haymitch knew about it and didn't tell me. I forgive him. A light hits us directly and we both start walking while the crowd cheers and applause. They give a speech in our honor and we eat. Then the cycle starts all over again: wake up, get dressed, they give a speech in our honor, we give one in the return, but were not allowed to give any personal comments anymore, only the ones they let us say. After that we eat the dinner, we take a long train ride to the next district and start all over again. We've gone to Districts 10 and thanked the tributes Jeremy and Dakota, District 9: Imanol and Annie, District 8: Samuel and Mackenzie, District 7: Sam and Leigha , 6: Ashton and Tara, 5: Foxface and Jason, 4: Ethan and Tara, and 3: Noah and Kalia. As we are in District 2 and 1, I try to avoid Cato's family's faces. I personally killed Glimmer, also killed Marvel with my arrow and Cato. Clove I didn't kill but I was present to her death. We finished riding through all the districts and now comes the Capitol. I do have to act for the crowds but I don't have to worry about uprisings here. We go to our old quarters, that's the Training Center where I suggest the proposal for our marriage. Peeta agrees but then disappears to his room for a long time. Haymitch tells me to leave him alone for a bit. After dinner in our old penthouse, which Peeta doesn't attend, I go to my room and lie down on my bed trying not to think about anything. The next night, we have an interview with Caesar Flickerman. He wears that sparkling midnight blue suit, his blue hair tied all the way back and with his tan skin he looks like a Capitol movie star over here. We go through questions and then when he asks us about our future, Peeta gets down on his knee, pours out his love for me and begs me to marry him. I accept. The Capitol citizens go hysterical. President Snow makes a surprise visit to congratulate us. He shakes Peeta's hands while the crowd still cheers. When he walks over to me he stares into my eyes and I to his. He grins at me and I grin also. I raise my eyebrows. They ask: Did I do it? I gave up everything for you; I kept up the game, promising to marry Peeta. Was it enough? His answer is a shake to the head. For him... it wasn't all enough...


	5. Chapter 5

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 5:

Katniss's POV:

That little shake to the head feels like the end of all hope to me. I gave up everything for him and he still thinks is no enough. We all sit down; an extra chair has been added for President Snow. As Caesar and Snow talk and ask the audience what they think about the wedding right here in the Capitol, I think of what I'm going to do when I go back to District 12. I plan a plan to run away into the wild. My family will go with me, also Gale and his family. I add Haymitch also, if I can consider him to come with me, and also Peeta and his family. The next night, is the banquet held in President Snow's mansion. As we all go in, the ball room has been decorated entirely. Musicians play in a special stage, tables fill the room for people to eat, a huge dance floor in the middle of the room so people could mingle and the whole room is almost filled with tables filled with food. Each table has one special dish. A table is filled with sea food, that comes from District 4; another table is filled with all sorts of soups, that may come from 11, 10 or 9. My mouth almost hangs at the sight of the food and drinks. Me and Peeta head for the food, I keep in mind what Hazelle told me before the Victor's Tour, that was to enjoy the food;, Haymitch for the drinks, Effie goes with some other women, our prep teams go to the dance floor and Cinna and Portia, our stylists, head to talk with some other stylists that have attend the party. Me and Peeta promised each other that will take one bite out of every dish. I happen to notice, while I'm eating, that people have taken my mockingjay into style. Men and women have decorated their bodies with it, or sewed into their clothes and even some women have it design into a necklace or/and ring. After 8 tables we're full. We sit down in a table and watch people talk, dance and eat. Peeta's prep team, Aries, Isaac and Liver, walk up to us in confusion.  
"Why aren't you guys eating?! There's plenty of food!" asks Liver over the noise.  
"We were, but we can't take another bite!" Peeta responds over the noise also. They all start to laugh hysterically and me and Peeta look at each other in confusion.  
"What's so funny?!" Peeta asks.  
"Well, no one ever lets that stop them!" says Aries.  
"Come with us!" yells Isaac over the noise. We follow them as they lead us to a table filled with clear drinks that look like water but something tells me that that isn't water. I never even noticed the table when I walked in. Liver and Isaac gives us a cup and as Peeta is about to drink it, they all panic and stop him from eating it.  
"You can't drink that here!" says Aries in panic.  
"Then where exactly can I?" Peeta asks.  
"You need to do it in there." Isaac says, pointing at the bathrooms as two women go in with the same cups.  
"Are you saying this is going to make me puke?!" Asks Peeta over the noise again.  
"Yeah! That way you can keep eating!" says Violet excitedly.  
"I've been in there two times already!" says Liver. Peeta stares at them in shock and I in disgustment.  
"That's...quite disgusting..." I say, trying not to sound so mean.  
"Everyone does it." answers Liver.  
"Why don't we just dance, Katniss?" says Peeta. I nod and he takes both of our cups and puts them back in the table. We walk to the dance floor and Peeta's prep team goes off and talk with other people. When we reach the dance floor, slow music starts to play. We twirl around in circles without even knowing. After a few minutes, Portia, Peeta's stylist, appears with a man I never seen before.  
"Katniss, Peeta, this Plutarch Heavensbee, the new Head-Gamemaker this year!" says Portia kindly.  
"Nice to meet you!" says Peeta, shaking his hand.  
"You too!" answer Plutarch shaking his hand. He grabs my hand and kisses it, that's something here in the Capitol they do when men meet a woman, it feels uncomfortable but I go along with it.  
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Everdeen" says Plutarch kindly. I smile and reply.  
"May I still Katniss from your arms?" Plutarch asks, staring at Peeta.  
"Sure," Peeta answers "But don't get to attached" he warns silly like. They both laugh and Plutarch agrees. Portia and Peeta walk away, leaving me and Plutarch. He puts his arms around me and we dance in circles, just like I was with Peeta.  
"How do you find the party so far?" he asks kindly.  
"It's great, there's a lot of food!" I answer.  
"That's how life it is in the Capitol" Plutarch says. I smile at him, he seems like a nice person, if you don't count he being Head-Gamemaker and all. Probably planned out all the strategies in the arena to kill tributes.  
"So your Head-Gamemaker, that must be a really high honor." I say.  
"Yeah, it is. They weren't a lot of takers for the job, though. It's a big responsibility" Answers Plutarch.  
"Have you planned some strategies?" I ask.  
"Of course! The Quarter Quells is put into work for years! This one is special, but the theme of the arena has already been chosen, it's something no one would've expected." he says excitedly. Plutarch lets go and he pulls out a beautiful gold round clock with a chain attached to it and frowns "I should be going soon." he says. When he tilts it to the right, a mockingjay like mine glows and then disappears.  
"That's a pretty clock." I say.  
"It's also one of a kind." Plutarch says smiling at me.  
"Where are you off to?" I ask.  
"A meeting for the Games. There suppose to be kept as a secret but I trust you." he says "If anybody asks, tell them I went home to bed." I nod.  
"Thank You for the lovely dance and congratulations on your engagement." Plutarch says kindly and bows in front of me.  
"Thank You and Your Welcome" I say smiling. He smiles and leaves, putting the clock in his pocket. I walk through the dance floor, trying to find where Peeta has wondered off to. People congratulate me in my engagement and I thank them, but I'm really focusing on finding Peeta. When I walk out of the dance floor, I see a table, only a few feet away, with Effie, Portia, Cinna and a another man sitting with them. I walk up to them and nicely interrupt there conversation.  
"Excuse me" I say politely.  
"Oh! Katniss, this is Gladius, he's a new stylist this year!" Says Effie.  
"Nice to meet you!" Gladius says. He takes my hand and kisses it just like Plutarch did.  
"Nice to meet you too, What District are you going to work in?" I ask.  
"I haven't been assigned yet, but I'm hoping it'll be soon." Gladius says.  
"Congratulations on the new job!" I say.  
"Thank You." he responds with a smile. I turn my attention to Effie again, she eats, carefully, a piece of fish.  
"Effie, have you seen Peeta?" I ask.  
"Yes, he's over there." she points to a table filled with cakes. Cheffs from the kitchen stand next to Peeta, as he examines some of the cakes and ask them questions. "And when you talk to him, tell him will be living at Midnight."  
"Ok, Thanks." I respond and leave them talking again. I walk up to Peeta as he asks them another question interestingly.  
"What flavor did you put on these cakes?" They all fight to answer but one of them answers first.  
"We mostly made the strawberry flavor since it's the President's favorite." The Cheff answers nervously but at the same time excited.  
"You should really make them the flavor people like the most instead of he's because they'll get more." Peeta says. They all start talking in agreement and Peeta turns around finally notices me.  
"Hey, Katniss,. How did it go with Plutarch?" he asks me.  
"Good, he's really nice. Anyway, Effie told me to tell you that we're living at Midnight."  
"What time is it?"  
"30 for Midnight" I say taking a small piece of cake already cut and put into a purple plate. Me and Peeta sit on a table and eat a few pieces of cake. The half hour passes real quickly because after two plates of cake, Effie appears and tells us to look for the others. We find Haymitch at the bar, our prep teams in the dance floor and Cinna and Portia saying their goodbyes to Gladius; I say goodbye to him also. We walk outside and wait for our cars that'll take us back to the train station. Effie checks her schedule and discusses it with us. Our cars arrive and we all get in. As we drive to the train station, the lights of the city flash through my eyes.  
"I never said goodbye to Plutarch!" says Portia in panic.  
"It's ok, he left early to bed" I say remembering what he told me.  
"Oh, I hope he feels good, he can't be sick at this time of the year." says Portia worried.  
"He's fine, he was just tired." I say. We arrived to the train station and we get on board and train takes off quickly. I take all the makeup off and slip into my pajamas and head for bed. The same dream appears in my head, I'm reliving the Games again and I wake up screaming. My door opens softly and Peeta peeks in and comes in. He sits on the side of the bed and calms me down. We both fall asleep. I have another dream, but this one is more peaceful. No blood, nothing dead and no weapons. I'm in the woods, the mockingjays sing the "District 12 Lullaby" and I'm in a peaceful place. I look to my right and from large tree, a small figure peeks from the tree's trunk. Rue walks out and sits next to me. The light shines through her beautiful face. I don't even remember that I lost her in the Games.  
"Rue?" I ask and my voice echos. She smiles at me. I feel so happy to see her and smile back. She stands up and offers me a hand. I take it and stand up. Her small hand still feels warm and obviously small. She whistles her 4-note whistle and the mockingjays copy it and sing it. She starts to walk and I know she wants me to follow her. I follow a few paces behind but then I awake with a golden ray of the sun shooting from my window. I pull the curtain aside and see the train is still moving but the sight of the woods gives me a happy feeling inside, that's where I was with Rue, though we never arrived. I didn't notice how much I missed my District. Peeta wakes up also and sits up and watches me stare outside.  
"Any nightmares?" he asks.  
"No, but I did have a dream." I say sitting down next to him.  
"What was it?"  
"Well, I was in the woods and Rue appeared. She started leading me somewhere but I woke up before I could find out where."  
"Sorry about that," Peeta says.  
"That's ok because, even though we didn't arrive, I felt happy." I say remembering the moment.  
"You slept with a smile." Peeta says. I smile at him.  
"Did you have any nightmares?" I ask.  
"No," he responds.  
"No? How come I don't know when you're having a nightmare?"  
"I guess I don't scream or anything, I just paralyze with fear." he says.  
"If you wake up, you should wake me" I say.  
"I would but you look peaceful and I don't want to jeopardize that." he says and I smile at him. We both pull on a robe and walk down to the dining car where the table is already set and only Effie, Cinna, Portia, my prep team and Peeta's prep team are sitting in. I sit down and start eating and in a few minutes, Haymitch shows up and starts to eat. The train stops in the middle of the afternoon. We have lunch and then start to get ready for the dinner at Mayor Undersee's house. When we arrive it's 6'o clock and people are starting to arrive. I first go to my home and my luggage has already been delivered to my house. It's been a month since I started the Victor's Tour so spend my time before the dinner with Prim. She tells me all about what she learned at school and what has happened at her school. Usually the usual things. Prim also told me how she's scared because the Reaping is in 2 weeks. Even though she lives in the Victor's Village, she still has to go to the Reapings, I don't and I know why she's afraid. If she gets chosen, there's no one else left to volunteer. Kids each year perform tessera, that's when you put your name extra times in exchange for oil and food. Prim doesn't have to do that anymore, though she's 13 now so she doesn't have her name an extra time. If your 12, your name goes 2 times and if your 18, your name goes 7 times, obligated. After 2 hours, I walk up to the Mayor's house with Prim and my mother. Tables have already been set in, foods are starting to be placed and people have started to arrive. In the corner of my eye, I see Hazelle, with Vick, Rory and Posy. Prim walks up to Posy and they both start to chat. Vick and Rory roam around the place and my mother and Hazelle start chatting. They all said hello to me first though, but I wonder where Gale is. When I'm about to ask Hazelle, Haymitch interrupts.  
"Sweetheart, why don't you go see if the Mayor is ready so we can get this over with."  
"Fine." I say. I knock on the door but there's no response. I open the door and walk inside silently. I make my way up the stairs and into Mayor Undersee's office. I know where it's located since I've been here a couple of times before, when his daughter, Madge, has invited me. I look around his office and when I'm about to live, the screen goes dark and then the words "UPDATE ON DISTRICT 8" appear in the screen. The black image immediately changes into an image of the citizens of 8 in their main square, screaming and throwing bricks while buildings burn. Peacekeepers shoot at random. Banners of me still hang on the rooftops. I remember because I was only there last week; giving a speech to the District 8 Tributes: Sam and Mackenzie. It's a whole disaster there and alarms start to off. The image shrinks into the corner of the TV and a reporter, a woman, appears on the screen, saying this is a Level 3 alert, and that all conditions are worsening. I walk closer to the screen and the image in District 8 fills the screen again, I have never seen anything like it, but I know I'm witnessing something President Snow calls an uprising.


	6. Chapter 6

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 6:

Katniss's POV:

I quickly leave the room, I know that what I just saw wasn't for my eyes. I walk down the stairs as I hear footsteps go into Mayor Undersee's office and close the door. I go outside and see more people have arrived. Haymitch walks up to me, a bit irritated.  
"Where is he?" he asks irritated. Probably tired of parties and just wants to go home like I do.  
"Getting ready." I lie, but with the tone of my voice and the look on his face, I can tell he knows something's up. When he's about to ask me, I notice Gale just arrived. I walk away from Haymitch and to Gale.  
"Gale!" I yell out. He notices me  
"Meet me in the woods tomorrow, please?" I say.  
"We'll see." Answers Gale and he walks away and takes a sit next to Rory and his mother. People start getting into their seats and I walk over to mine and sit next to Peeta, and Haymitch on my other side. My family and Gale's sit on the same table and I wish I were with them but I can't. After a few speeches we eat and time goes fast. The parties are all over and I can finally rest. The next morning, I remember that I'm meeting Gale in the woods; that's if he shows up. I put on my usual hunting clothes and boots and make my way through the hall. I enter Prim's room and give her a kiss on the forehead as she sleeps.  
"'Night, little duck." I whisper with a smile and walk downstairs quietly and have a small breakfast because I know that if I go hunting I'll eat from what I have, and in some way, I feel like if I don't eat, I'll make Gale feel bad. In a leather bag, I put a pair of fur-lined gloves that Cinna made, food and a flask of tea, and some twigs I find in the snow for Gale. I walk into the woods and walk to a house, more like a room, and sit and wait for Gale. I start a small fire. It's cold out and there's more snow than I remembered when I left for the Victory Tour. I hear the mockingjays sing outside and I silently wait.

Gale's POV: (last night).

When everyone starts to leave, I see Katniss leave with her family. I am mad at her, but I don't want to lose our friendship also. Posy walks up to me.  
"Are you going hunting tomorrow?" Posy asks me. I shrug.  
"I don't know, why?" I ask.  
"I was hoping you could take me with you." Posy says. Posy in the woods, I'm not so sure about that. She's been there a few times and she doesn't like to hunt with the bow and arrows like me, she likes the slingshot better. I keep telling her that the slingshot doesn't work as well as the bow, but she refuses to use it.  
"I don't think so." I respond.  
"Why not?! You always go and I'm turning 13 soon! Please, Gale..." Posy exclaims. I start to feel unfair and I know I have to take her with me sooner or later.  
"Alright." I say.  
"Promise?" she says. I sigh and promise. The next morning, I wake up quietly, trying not to wake Vick and Rory. We all sleep in the same room in bunk beds. Me and Rory on the left and Posy and Vick on the right. Posy's bed is already made, (she sleeps in the bottom like me) which means she's awake. Her stuffed bunny, which is missing a lot of the stuffing and a button eye, lay in her bed. The bunny was a present my mother gave her for her 3rd birthday. She loved it and named it 'Princess'. Now it looks like it was run over by a car a few times, but she still loves it even though my mother thinks she should throw it away. I change into some hunting clothes and go downstairs without waking the others. I find Posy waiting outside in the porch with a small piece of bread from yesterday. I grab one also and sit next to her. Dawn hasn't reached out entirely but it would soon; cold hits me directly when I reach outside.  
"'Morning." Posy says excited and I reply. We eat in silent and when we're done we walk together to the woods. I tell her some advice and tell her to use the bow, again she refuses.  
"The bow works better than a small slingshot, Posy." I say.  
"That's exactly why I like the slingshot. You don't have to carry a bag with arrows behind your back, plus a bow in your hand. It's uncomfortable. With the slingshot, you just pick a rock from the ground and you're done." Posy says.  
"That doesn't even matter, Posy. What's better is to get the best food with the best device, not to be comfortable." I say.  
"You do what you do and I'll do what I do, Gale."  
"Fine" We stay silent the rest of the way. When we reach the woods, Posy looks around, enjoying the beauty.  
"Ok, well, you go to that side and I'll be around." I say. I remember that I have to meet Katniss so I try to hurry up, not that I'm looking forward to what she may say.  
"Ok." Posy says.  
"Are you sure you're ok going alone?" I ask.  
"Yes."  
"Ok then, we meet here in an hour." I say. She nods and we both take off. On my way to where I think Katniss might be, I spot a wild turkey and shoot it. I walk through the direction I'm supposed to go, and there I find it. The little house, well a room. I remember when Katniss showed it to me one time. I stare at it for a while, thinking if I should go in.

Posy's POV:

I walk through the woods, jumping over branches, splashing on water and getting mud on me. I make myself a slingshot and start to look around for an animal that I could shoot down. Up in a tree, I see a couple of groosling birds. I remember that Gale told me before that those are birds you can eat. I take 2 rocks from the ground, I throw one at the tree and the birds go flying off. I quickly put the rock in my slingshot I made, aim and shoot. By my surprise, it lands on its feet and it falls to the ground. I go and pick it up and keep walking. I hear a river near; I keep walking and I find it. A beautiful river with flowers near the edges, tiny fish swim in it and small rocks lay on the edge. The river keeps going and it has little waterfalls. On the trees, mockingjays stand singing. It's beautiful. I look a little further and find an old small bridge that reaches the other side. The bridge is cover with moss and flowers. I put my feet in one step and slowly walk across. I make it to the other side and it's exactly like the other side, except the mountains are closer, I start to wonder if I haven't gone too far. I start looking around and it looks like a tropical island. I find a small creek that connects with the river. It's all very beautiful. I start to wonder if anybody knows about this place. When I'm about to cross back, I find a small box on the side of the bridge I didn't notice. I try to open it but it has a lock. I look around for the key and there it is, hanging in a small tree. It shines golden as the sun hits it. I climb the tree and get the key. I open the box and inside there's a little notebook, a diary. I open it and inside it's all written but it stopped at some point. The handwriting is cursive and I can tell it was written by a girl. I put it aside and there pictures in the box. In each picture shows the same girl. She seems to be about 16 years old. She has long blonde hair and apparently she has a twin sister because there's a picture of her and someone that looks exactly like her. There's a picture of her family also, and some friends. I curl up in a tree's roots and start reading her diary. The first page reads:

"March 12, 2150

Its my 16th birthday and my mother has given me this diary to write about my life. She thinks I have a talent and might become a writer. I live in District 12, Panem; with my mother Sidney, my father John, and my twin sister Danielle. I've gone far into the woods and I found this beautiful river, and I believe it's enchanted. I'm blinded by its beauty. I've build this bridge from tree trunks, to cross to the other side and write in my diary, curled up in the roots of a tree that will protect me from any harm. I sneak here to get away from the misery that waits in the other side. It's horrible here and I hate it all. The worst thing is The Hunger Games every year. For punishment of the uprisings of the Districts, the Capitol demands that each year, the Districts must offer up in Tribute, one young man and woman, between the ages of 12-18 to learn the skills of survival, fight and kill; to fight to the death on live television broadcast. The 24 Tributes will be taken into an arena, that could be anything from a frozen tundra to a desert island and one will remain. The Tribute that remains shall be known as Victor and there District will be showered with gifts, but for me, the Capitol will always be the true winner no matter what. There also use to be a 13 District, but it was destroyed in the rebellion as sign of what the Capitol could do. There hasn't been an uprising ever since. I hope for the day that someone will rise from the shadows and free us all from this rot. That's how it is here. So far, me and my sister haven't been reaped. My best friend, Catherine Everdeen, also hasn't been reaped. The reaping will be soon again and I'm really scared. Last year the Tributes were a boy that was 18 years old and girl that was 15. I think the boy's name was Zachary and the girl's name was Penelope. They both rest in heaven now. The girl died in the bloodbath, killed by a Carrer from 4 and the boy died a couple of days later by dehydration. That's how it is. I got to go, my mother will be wondering for me. I'll write more soon. Goodbye.  
-Maysilee Donner"

I stay in shock to what I just read. Maysilee Donner. I have no idea who she is but I want to know. I think on what could happen to the person that'll get reaped this year. As I think, without even knowing, I fall asleep.

Gale's POV:

I make my way to the small house and wait in the door. Katniss is in inside. Her legs up to her chest, staring at the fire. I open the door slowly and go in. Katniss looks at me and speaks. She must know I'm hurt.  
"Snow threatened personally to kill you." Katniss says. I sit in front of her with only the fire keeping a distance. What she said takes me a little by surprise. I raise my eyebrows and don't show fear or astonishment.  
"Anybody else also?" I ask.  
"Snow didn't actually give me a list but I think it includes both our families." Katniss says. That hurt me, I couldn't imagine seeing my brothers and Posy scream from there death. Not even my mother.  
"Unless what?" I ask.  
"Nothing now." she says. We both stare into the fire, Katniss tosses me a leather bag and I open it, I pull out some gloves and I know there Peeta's. Rage starts inside me and I toss back the gloves.  
"I don't want your fiancés gloves." I say trying to sound calm.  
"He's not my fiancé; it's just part of the act. Those gloves weren't his, Cinna made them for me, but I think you need them more than I do." Katniss responds.  
"Give them back, then" I stand up and grab the gloves and put them on.  
"Maybe I'll die in comfort." I say.  
"Well I have a plan and you don't know what's happened." Katniss says.  
"Let's hear it." I say and she starts telling me about everything from when she was crowned Victor. As she talks, I don't interrupt and start cooking a meal for us. She pauses when I give her a cup of tea and finally speak.  
"You really know how to make a mess of things." I say.  
"I'm not even finished." Katniss says.  
"Forget it. Just skip to that plan of yours, It must be a stunner." I say.  
"Ok. The plan is to run away." Katniss says.  
"What?" I ask surprise.  
"We take off into the woods and never return." Katniss says. I was right it was a stunner. I start to laugh. Katniss starts to argue with me but then starts to laugh also. I pick her up and we spin around in circles. I feel so happy!  
"Lets run away!" I say happy.  
"You sure? 'Cause I don't want to go 5 miles with the kids and all and then-" I cut her off and tell her I'm completely sure. I'm completely happy that the 3 words I've wanted to say slip from my mouth.  
"I love you."  
"I know." Katniss says. I start to let go but she grabs a hold of me.  
"I know! And you know very much what you are to me!" Katniss says. I free myself from her grip.  
"I can't think of anybody that way because there isn't room. Ever since they pulled Prim's name out of that ball, all I can think about is how afraid I am, Gale." Katniss says "If we go somewhere else safe, maybe things would be different." I swallow my disappointment. I was hoping something will happen, I guess not. I turn my back around and pull some food from the fire that was beginning to burn.  
"So we'll go. My mother is going to take some convincing." Katniss says. I start pulling out the food and putting the last touches.  
"My mother, maybe. She may not say no to you." I say not looking at her in the eye.  
"Haymitch will take a lot of convincing." I stop dead and look at her.  
"You're not asking him to come with us?" I ask, knowing that the answer might be 'yes'.  
"I got to. I can't leave Haymitch and Peeta-" the sound of his name kills me.  
"Whoa. I'm sorry, I didn't realize how large our party is going to be." I snap at Katniss.  
"They'd torture them to death trying to find out where I went." Katniss says.  
"Peeta's family will never come. I bet they couldn't wait to inform on us. If they decided to stay?" I ask.  
"Then I guess he stays." Katniss says. I feel a bit relieved.  
"Leave him behind?" I ask.  
"To save my family, yes. Wait, I mean no! I guess I'll get him to come." Katniss says. And the relieved flees away.  
"Would you leave me?" I ask "I can't completely convince my mother to take 3 young kids into the woods in the winter."  
"There not that young, Gale."  
"Vick and Rory are 14 and Posy is still 12. To my mom, that's real young." I say.  
"She'll still see sense." Says Katniss.  
"And if she doesn't?" I demand with my voice rising in anger.  
"Then you'll force her. Do you think I'm making this all up, Gale?" she says, her voice rising in anger.  
"I don't know. Maybe President Snow is just manipulating you, He's throwing your wedding, you saw how the Capitol reacted. He can't afford to kill you or Peeta. He wouldn't get out of that one, wouldn't he?" says Gale.  
"With an uprising in District 8, I doubt he's spending time choosing a wedding cake!" Katniss shouts. What Katniss said has taken me by surprise.  
"There's an uprising in 8?" I say in a hushed voice. Katniss just stares at me and then speaks. I wait for an answer.  
"We- Well, maybe it isn't really an uprising maybe it was just a misunders-" I cut her off and grab her by the shoulders.  
"What did you see, Katniss?!" I ask desperately.  
"Nothing! In person, exactly. Just heard something." she says. She can't change my mind, it's too little too late. I stare at her and then she sighs and tells me what she saw.  
"And it's my fault, Gale. If I just killed myself in the arena, everyone would be safe and no one will be hurt, none of this would be happening." she says.  
"Safe?" I ask "You haven't hurt anybody; you've given them an opportunity. They all just need to be brave to take it. There's talk on the mines when I'm there, that there are people who want to fight. Don't you see it, It's finally happening! If there's an uprising in 8 why not everywhere? This could be-" Katniss cuts me off scared.  
"You don't know what you're saying! Stop it! The Peacekeepers outside of 12 aren't like here! They-" Katniss yells but I cut her off.  
"That's why we have to join the fight, Katniss!" I say harshly.  
"We have to leave before they kill us all!" Katniss yells again. I push her away roughly.  
"Then you go! I'll never go in one million years." I say.  
"I don't get how an uprising in 8 changes things. What about your family?" Katniss asks.  
"What about the families that can't run away, Katniss? We can't just think about us, there others also. You can do so much!" I take Cinna's gloves off and throw them at her feet. "I don't want anything that's made in the Capitol." And I make my way to the door and slam it close. I walk to the place where me and Posy were suppose to meet. It's been more than one hour and she hasn't arrived and I start to get worried.  
"Posy?!" I yell. I look around.  
"Posy?! POSY?! POSY WHERE ARE YOU?!" I start running through the woods yelling for her.

Posy's POV:

I wake up with someone's screams echoing. There screaming my name. I find myself lying down on the tree's root with Maysilee's diary in my hands. I hear the person's desperate cries and I realize it's Gale. I've been asleep a long time and he's looking for me! I take the box and put everything back to where it was, except the diary, that I put in my back pocket, and put the key around my neck for safe keeping. I promise the place that I'll be back, and take my slingshot with me. I run back and yell for Gale.  
"GALE?! I'M HEAR!" I yell.  
"Posy!" He says when he finds me.  
"Didn't you hear me yelling for you?" He asks me.  
"No, I lost track of time and fell asleep." He stares at me and then hugs me tight.  
"Please don't ever do that again."  
"I won't, I'm sorry." I say.  
"Let's go, did you catch anything?" Gale asks me.  
"Just this bird." I say holding it up.  
"That's great! Let's go." and we leave.

Katniss's POV:

I pick up all the food and put them in the leather bag, then put Cinna's gloves on. I walk out the room and the knob is as cold as ice. The temperature must have drop like 20 degrees. I walk out the woods and make my way to the Victor's Village. I think of telling Peeta next. He was with me the entire tour so he'll be easier to talk to than Gale. I run into him as he leaves the Village.  
"Went hunting?" Peeta asks me.  
"Sort of. Are you going to town?" I ask him.  
"Yeah. I'm supposed to eat dinner with my family tonight."  
"I can at least walk you in."  
"Sure." We walk down the road from the Victor's Village to town. It barely gets used. I now tell Peeta about the plan.  
"If I ask you to run away with me, Peeta, would you?" Peeta stops and grabs my arm and I stop.  
"It depends on why." Peeta says.  
"There's an uprising in 8. We have to get out of here."  
"So, by 'we', do you mean us or others are coming?"  
"Well, my family, yours if they want and mabey Haymitch." I respond.  
"And Gale?" Peeta asks.  
"I think he might have other plans." I say remembering our fight.  
"Oh, ok. Yeah, I'll go with you, Katniss." Peeta says.  
"You are?! You will?!" I say excitedly.  
"Yeah, but I don't think you will be going." Peeta says.  
"Than be ready, 'cause it'll be anytime." I let myself go from his grip and walk fast. Peeta follows a few steps behind.  
"Katniss, hold up." I don't. I keep walking and I stop and kick a chunk of ice so he'll catch up.  
"Katniss, I'll go if you want me to but I think we should talk about it with Haymitch first, make sure we aren't making things worse." Peeta says. In the square, we hear the sound of people screaming and intake for breath.  
"STOP IT YOU'LL KILL HIM!" we hear a girl's scream.  
"What is that?" Peeta asks. I shrug and walk over there. We walk to where the crowd is and Peeta's older brothers, Peter and Patrick, are there.  
"What's going on?!" Peeta asks them over the noise and the girl's screams.  
"What is she doing here? She'll make things worst!" Peter says.  
"What?!" Peeta asks.  
"Look!" Patrick says. Peeta goes in and then comes back in panic.  
"You got to get out of here! Go to your house and I'll be there when I can!" Peeta says. I ignore him and start shoving people to see what's happening. By the way people hiss at me to get out here and the girl screams for help and to stop, I know it's terrible. When I reach the front, I see Gale's wrist have been tied around a wooden post. He's down on his knees unconscious with only his tied wrists holding him up. His back is covered with scratches and raw, bloody slab of meat. His shirt is all broken. The girl is Posy and she struggles to free herself from 2 men that hold her from getting to Gale. Her face is covered in tears and a scratch and a small bruise on her face. Behind Gale stands a man that I don't know who he is. I see him raise the whip.  
"NO!" screams Posy. And Gale is hit.


	7. Chapter 7

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 7:

Katniss's POV:

As I watch more blood come from Gale's back and he screams in pain even though he's unconscious, I see Posy struggles even more to free herself from the 2 men that hold her back. Tears stream down her cheeks and one of the men force her to her knees. The man with the whip throws the whip back to hit him again and I spring forward to cover Gale from getting hit.  
"NO!" I scream, and I get hit. I fall to my knees with one hand covering my wound and the other keeping me from falling forward. People that watch gasp.  
"Katniss!" Posy yells. I look up and my vision in the eye that starts to swell up is blurry. Posy is on her knees. I feel my blood fall down my cheek. I would scream of the pain but I keep my mouth shut. I look up, and with my good eye, I see the man with the whip is about to hit again. I hear Haymitch and Peeta coming my way.  
"Hold everything!" yells Haymitch. Haymitch walks forward up to the man with the whip.  
"What business is it of you slashing her cheek?! She is suppose to model wedding dresses in a week!" says Haymitch to the man. Peeta walks up to me and checks my cut by lifting my chin up. Nobody has told me I was going to model wedding dresses. Now I know.  
"She has interrupted the punishment of a confessed criminal." says the man coldly. He still keeps he's hood on; an unknown man that may work for the Capitol.  
"Do you really think I care?! Even if she set the blasted Justice Building on fire, with that cheek of hers now, the camera won't be able to come until it heals and do you know how long that will take?!" yells Haymitch.  
"Not really my problem." says the man coldly.  
"It's about to be, my friend. Just wait until I contact the Capitol." says Haymitch.  
"The guy was poaching and what business of hers is it to interrupt he's punishment?" the man says coldly.  
"He's her cousin and my fiancé." Peeta says staring at the man. Peeta helps me up and we walk up to Haymitch. "If you would like to get to him, then you will have to go through us first." It's official that we are the only 3 in the District that can stand up like this while others just stand there and watch. A group of Peacekeepers approach the scene with their Head-Peacekeeper in front. A woman that's in the group with the Peacekeepers glances out front and walks forward to the Head-Peacekeeper and speaks. In her uniform I see her name tag. Her name is Purnia. When they are done talking they turn around and speak to me, Peeta and Haymitch.  
"Very well, then. Why don't you get your cousin out of here, girl, and remind him that I'll assemble that firing squad if he poaches off Capitol's land." says the Head-Peacekeeper and I nod. The Peacekeepers leave in a weird form behind the Head one. People also start to leave.  
"And why don't you let that little girl go, huh?" says Haymitch at the man. I turn around and remember Posy, who is still crying.  
"Let the girl go." says the man coldly and they do. Posy gets up slowly and the 3 men leave. I kneel besides Gale and cut the rope that holds him to the pole. He falls to the ground and a woman from the Hob sells us her board that she uses as a counter top.  
"Is he going to be ok?!" Posy asks terrified.  
"He's going to be if we get him to my house in time." I say drying some of her tears carefully without opening her wound that the men left in her face.  
"You have to get him to your mother fast, Katniss" says Haymitch. We all carry Gale to the board and laid him face-down. Some miners that are in the same crew as Gale help carry him. I grab hold of Posy's hand and we all, quickly, make our way to my house; where I find my mother and Prim in the kitchen.  
"Mom, help!" I yell when I enter. My mother quickly comes and tells the miners to set Gale in the kitchen; and orders me and Posy to get a snow coat on our wounds. As my mother and Prim work to stop the bleeding the miners start to leave.  
"Would he be saved?" Posy asks my mother.  
"Maybe, honey. It's going to take some time." My mother answers. More tears go down her face.  
"It's going to be fine, Posy. We're doing the best we can." Prim says and hugs her. After a few minutes on trying to stop the bleeding, which it works a little. I ask Peeta to take Posy back home.  
"Sure." Peeta answers.  
"What? No! I'm not leaving Gale." Posy says.  
"I know you don't want to, but it's starting to get dark and your mother will be wondering for you." I say. Posy nods and they both leave. I quickly remember something and run after Peeta.  
"Peeta! There aunt lives 3 houses away, tell her to watch them." I say.  
"I will." Peeta says. I walk back inside and I tell my mother what happened along with Haymitch as she orders Prim to get stuff. After a while Peeta comes back with Hazelle. Hazelle extremely worried enters the kitchen and holds Gale's hand while my mother explains her the situation. I sit in a chair with the thick layer of snow that makes my vision even worse. Seconds turn to minutes, and minutes turn to hours. My mother and Prim still cleaning the flesh and putting bandages, Hazelle strokes Gale's hair and whispers that he loves him and that she'll be back tomorrow, and leaves to attend Posy that's back home with a cut face. She thanks my mother and Prim for taking care of Gale, and me, Peeta and Haymitch for stopping the man, and she leaves. Every time my mother puts a new bandage a moan escapes Gale's lips. They give him the medicine and all he needs.  
"That's all we can do. We'll see how he wakes up in the morning." My mother says. "I'll go over to Hazelle's house and tell her that Gale is gaining conscious, and check on Posy." She grabs her coat and leaves. Prim finishes adjusting some bandages while I get another layer of snow for my wound. Haymitch leaves reminding me of the photo shoot, which I forgot entirely about. Then Peeta leaves, kissing me goodnight. Prim puts a bandage in my wound when the last layer of snow melts.  
"Thanks, Prim." I say.  
"You're Welcome." Prim says, "Katniss, can I talk to you?"  
"Sure, what is it?" I say worried.  
"It's about the reaping." Prim says "I'm terrified to death."  
"Prim," I start; I don't know what to say. How would you feel if your little sister comes up to you and tells you that she's scare to death when you are also? And they are the ones who expect you to be brave. "Come here." We both sit in the couch and I put my arm around her.  
"Prim, I know what your feeling is really hard. It's like nobody can help you; and, it's like, you're a little fish in a big pond without help." I say "But, you can't let fear rule your life. You have to stand up to it. Show it that you're the boss, and nothing can change that, ok?"  
"Ok." Prim says happier, "Thanks, Katniss. You really are the best sister ever."  
"And you are my best little sister that I always wanted and got." I say.  
"I love you."  
"I love you, Prim" We hug each other and I stroke her back slowly. We stay there for a few minutes until I realize she has fallen asleep. I pick her up like a baby and carry her to her room upstairs. I turn on her lamp so I'll be able to see and change her into her pajamas. I let her hair go from her French pigtails.  
"Good Night, little duck." I whisper and kiss her in her forehead. I turn off the lamp and quietly, exit the room. I walk downstairs and sit next to Gale in a wooden stool. I find myself holding his hand. I stare at him. I think of the happy moments I had with him before the games. They're all happy actually. That all has changed. How I thought it was Gale, but know it has to be Peeta. I lean closer and a tear escapes my not-swollen eye.  
"I'm really sorry." I whisper to Gale. I give him a kiss and he wakes up.  
"Hey, Catnip." The nickname gives me pleasure.  
"Hey, how are you feeling?" I ask.  
"Painful." he says, "How's Posy?"  
"She's fine." I say, "Would you like to explain to me what happened there?"  
"All I remember is saying something and then I was grab by some men and Posy by others. Then I find myself tied to a pole and Posy was hit by one of the men. My body was on fire so I couldn't move. Then everything went dark and all I could hear was Posy screaming and people gasping. The pain was horrible. Then I opened my eyes and here you are." says Gale explaining almost breathing through every word. "I thought you be gone by now."  
"I'm not going anywhere." I say smiling "Not yet."  
"Good." says Gale, he grabs my hand, not wanting to let go; and then falls to a deep sleep. Like he just died in my arms and I too he's.


	8. Chapter 8

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 8:

Katniss's POV:

A dream pops in my head. The same dream of the games. But the Feast has been added. Clove, the girl from 2, opens my cheek with her knife; then transforms into a mutt and calls the others with one howl. It feels like they are all devouring me and I hear Cato's laugh.  
"Now you know how it feels." Cato hisses at me. I scream and then I wake. I'm in my bed. My mother probably put me to bed after she came back. I put my robe on and go downstairs. Through the windows, I see a snow blizzard has hit District 12; on a Monday. My swelling eye has gone done and blood covers the bandage. The smell of bread comes from the kitchen and I know Peeta must've left some bread from the bakery. I walk into the kitchen and my mother cooks breakfast. Gale is still asleep and his mother isn't here yet. My mother puts the food in plates and then removes the bandages from Gale's back. All the bandages are covered in dry blood. My mother goes outside and makes a snow coat and puts it in Gale's back. Gale wakes up and a sound of relief escapes his lips. I know we are lucky to have snow but on the warm months, my mother has to keep all the flies away and use a bucket of water. My mother takes away my bandage and gives me a snow coat. I sit in a table, that's not where Gale is still laying, and eat my breakfast. Then I remember that Prim isn't here.  
"Where's Prim?" I ask.  
"At school, it's Monday." My mother answers.  
"The school still wants the kids to go? In this kind of weather?" I say surprised.  
"It's there last day so they still wanted them to go." my mother explains "Plus, the blizzard started about 2 hours ago only."  
"And how is she going to get home?"  
"You can go and pick her up if you want." My mother says. I nod. I haven't gone to the school in a long time. Other than not having to assist the reaping anymore, Victors don't have to go to school anymore; unless they would like to have an education as a teacher or something. When I'm done with my breakfast I let my mother take it away and I change into some warm clothes. The phone rings in the study room and I pick it up. Peeta is in the line.  
"Katniss is that you?" Peeta asks.  
"Yeah it's me" I say.  
"So how's Gale?" he asks.  
"Better than before. He's woke up a little." I say. I don't mention our kiss to him. Who knows what could happen. Even though I've decided to choose Gale, I also don't want to lose my friendship with him.  
"Good. And you?"  
"Better also." I say "Have you seen or talked to Haymitch?"  
"I stopped by his house before the blizzard hit. I left him so bread and build up he's fire." Peeta says.  
"Ok, but you'll have to wait until the storm passes." Peeta says, not even showing a hint of concern in his tone of voice.  
"Sure, ok." I say "See you then."  
"Goodbye, Katniss." Peeta says and we both hang up.

Prim's POV: (in the morning)

I arrive to my school and the air is windy and cold. When I go in, I find Posy by her locker. She has a bandage in her face. I hear girls and boys talk about Gale's whipping in whispers. I can tell Posy is trying to ignore them.  
"Hey," I say walking up to Posy "How are you feeling?"  
"Better than yesterday, I guess" she responds. "Can I tell you something?"  
"Sure. What is it?" I ask.  
"Well, when I went hunting with Gale, I found this river and it had a bridge, and next to the bridge I found this old wooden box. Inside there were pictures, and this." Posy reaches out for something inside her backpack. She takes out a small notebook that I have no idea what it is.  
"It's a diary." continues Posy. "A diary that used to belong to a girl named Maysilee Donner; and I want to find out who she is."  
"What was in the pictures?" I ask.  
"In one picture, it was her family. She also had a twin sister. In the others it was her and some friends." Posy says.  
"What did it say in her diary?"  
"It's usually her feelings. About how she, her sister and her best friends are afraid."  
"Who was her best friend?"  
"There was also a picture of her. Her best friend." Posy says. "It was your mom." That takes my surprise.  
"My mom?" I ask.  
"Yes." she says.  
"Then maybe you can ask her." I say.  
"I can't do that. There has to be a reason why she stopped writing here. There's always a reason, and I think this reason is horrible." she explains "If I do ask her, what will happen? I think your mom is trying to get rid of the bad memories and emotions and if we bring this up, it was all for nothing to her."  
"We can go to the library. There must be something about her." I say.  
"How do you know?"  
"Well, there has to be. In recess we can drop by."  
"Ok." Posy says. The school bell rings and first period starts. We learn about the sorts of plants that can be use as medicine, a head start for January. Of course, the teacher gives me an 'A' for knowing almost all of them. Other kids give me dirty looks but I ignore them. Recess comes before I even know it and I find Posy in the usual table we sit in. We eat lunch quick so we'll have time to make it to the library. We arrive at the library, and like always, is mostly empty. Only occupied by teachers. We walk to the front desk where the same old woman sits there stamping books.  
"Excuse me." Posy says. "By any chance, would you happen to have a book of all the Tributes from District 12?" I quickly glance at Posy in panic. Why would she say that? I glance back at the lady and she looks surprise.  
"Why on earth would you be searching for that?" says the lady. I look back at Posy and I can tell she's panicking. I know she wouldn't want me to tell the lady the truth. I am her only friend. She has trouble making friends like me, so when our elders became friends, we met each other and became best friends.  
"School Project." I blurt out. The lady looks at me. Oh right, today's the last day of the semester.  
"For January." I blurt out. "We like to start early." Posy nods.  
"Very well then." the lady comes out from her desk and starts walking to a section filled with books. "Follow me." and we do.  
"Nice save." whispers Posy to me.  
"Thanks." I whisper back. The lady stops and we almost crash into her. She passes her finger through the shelves, looking for a book. She pulls out a book and hands it to Posy.  
"That is a book written in hand from the 1st Games to now. It has all the names of the tributes and how they've..." she pauses. I know she can't say the word. "Be careful with it." and she walks away. Me and Posy sit in a table.  
"Why will you ask for a book of the Tributes of 12?" I whisper.  
"You said it yourself. Why wouldn't she be in a book. She was 16, she obviously had to be a Tribute at some point." Posy says opening the book. We look through names and information. I look at the clock and see we only have 5 minutes left. Posy searches fast.  
"She's not in here!" Posy says. Some teachers 'shh' her. Posy passes a page and see the name 'May-'.  
"Wait!" I whisper in panic. I pass the page back and I see it. Written in a fine print.

The 2nd Annual Quarter Quell:  
Trent Barlor  
Haymitch Abernathy  
Clara Dixon  
Maysilee Donner

We stare at each other.  
"You are right. She was a tribute." I say.  
"Yeah. But the thing is... she... you know... died." Posy says.  
"Oh... right." I say. I see Posy read about how she died. She made it far but was attacked by pink fluffy birds.  
"Well, that's that." I say. I see Posy stare at the book.  
"You ok?" I ask. She nods; I know something's wrong.  
"You sure?" I ask.  
"I don't know." Posy says "Now I wish I had never found her."  
"Posy, she... went a long time ago." I say, I don't bother to say the word also.  
"Even though she's gone. I feel like I should honor her." Posy says closing the book.  
"Maybe we can someday." Posy smiles and the bell rings. We walk to the front desk and return the book.  
"You two found everything you need?" asks the lady.  
"Yes, Thank You." I say and we walk back to our classrooms. The last 3 classes go by fast also. A blizzard just started and we are told to stay inside until someone comes to pick us up. For the oldest, they are allowed to go by themselves and take their younger siblings with them; that's if they have. Posy's mother comes and picks her up before Katniss show's up to pick me up. We go home and I eat while I watch my mother apply some more snow coat on Gale; then I cuddle up with a book on the couch and fall asleep.

Katniss's POV:

It only takes 2 days for the blizzard to move away and I finally get to speak to Peeta and Haymitch. We go for a walk from the Victor's Village to town. The snow has been piled up to the side of the road. We go through the roads and I pray for the 10-feet pile of snow to not fall on top of us.  
"So we are going to the you-know-where." starts of Haymitch.  
"Not anymore." I say.  
"Then where are we going, then?" asks Haymitch.  
"No where." I say. I've tried to remember everything I saw in the uprising in 8 if it's useful for us. "I want to start an uprising." Haymitch starts laughing at me; like he can't take me seriously.  
"You let me know how that works out for you." he says.  
"Then what is your plan?" I snap.  
"To make sure your wedding is perfect." Haymitch says "I've rescheduled your photo shoot by the way."  
"Haymitch-" I start with a pleading creeping tone in my voice but he cuts me off.  
"Katniss," says Haymitch mimicking my tone. "It won't work at all." A little laugh escapes Peeta's mouth but he quickly reacts like it wasn't him when I glare at him. We walk closer to where the Hob is and Haymitch goes in for more wine. Me and Peeta make our way to the Seam and see people cleaning the stairs in front of the Justice Building. In a week, is the reaping. Entering the Seam, we see a table with 2 Peacekeepers taking notes. A line of kids stand in front of the table. I see kids I've seen around the District and Posy, Rory and Vick; they don't notice me, and I make my way to Hazelle's. I'm worried about her since she hasn't come to see how Gale's doing. Hazelle tells us how she might lose her business because no one is coming to her to wash stuff and because of that she's not getting money and now her kids have to perform tessera; even though they do it every year. We leave after that and I go home and sleep the entire night. Tomorrow I have to model 6 wedding dresses and the time goes fast. Before I know it, my prep team is already working on my makeup. It takes all day for the photo shoot because everything's different for every dress. Prim helps and my mother makes the food for all of us. At night, we all sit in the couch so we can see the reading of the card for the 3rd Annual Quarter Quell; all Panem will be watching. The anthem starts and then President Snow appears in the screen. He holds a wooden box that may have the card inside. He makes the same speech as every year of the Games and adds about the Quarter Quell.  
"On this 3rd Annual Quarter Quell, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors, along with a citizen of the District, male or female, to fight to the Death. The male or female Tribute chosen from the District shall be known as 'Target'. The 'Targets' to make it to the top 10, their families will be honored with a feast." Snow says. My heart sinks. The anthem begins again and I turn off the TV.  
"So, Victors will be competing again and if I get reaped... I'm also going in?" Prim asks staring at me. I stare at her. I'm the only female Victor in 12 and Peeta will volunteer for Haymitch if he's reaped. That means I'm going back into the arena...


	9. Chapter 9

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 9:

Katniss's POV:

I run off, before I even think about it, through the Seam and see families hug there children who are in danger of being reaped. I stop behind my old house and drop myself into the floor with my legs are up to my chest. Tears fall down. I'm going back to the place of nightmares; and this time I'm going with a kid. A kid that will hope for me to save him or her. All the strategies that could hold the arena. What will the arena be? Worries rush all over me. Even the thought of who is coming with me, Peeta or Haymitch, kills me. But I know I don't even need to think about that. Even if Haymitch is reaped, Peeta would just volunteer, to save me; but the thing is that I owe him, I have to save him this time. The week goes fast and it's Monday again and Gale is back on his feet. The Victor's reaping is today. My mother makes me the same hairstyle as last year but I wear a different dress. As the time comes nearer, I sit and wait in the couch. Prim walks up to me.  
"I don't want you to go, Katniss" Prim says sitting down next to me.  
"If I had a choice I'll take it." I say. "Here." I drop my mockingjay pin into her hand.  
"I can't take this, Katniss." Prim says "It's yours."  
"I want you to keep it because, no matter what happens, Prim" I say, I pin it into her shirt. "I will always be in your heart." We hug each other tightly until my mother comes in and tells me it's time. I grab hold of Prim's hand and we walk to the square. Peacekeepers stand in one straight line. A few minutes pass and Peeta arrives with he's family; and then Haymitch arrives. We stand in one line. Effie makes the same speech as every year but she doesn't mention the video. She calls out ladies first and I'm not surprise when she calls out my name, since there's only one piece of paper in the orb. Then the boys. Haymitch is reaped but Peeta volunteers like I thought he would. We are taken into a car and into the train station and the train takes off while I hold my last goodbyes in my lips.

Prim's POV:

It's Wednesday and it's time for our reaping. I miss Katniss with all my heart and I wish she were here with me right now, but she's not. I eat breakfast with fear in my mind. My mother makes me my usual pigtails french braids and I get dressed. In about an hour, they blow the train horn; the signal that means that we need to start going to the square. I walk with my mom and find Posy, Rory and Vick with Hazelle and Gale. I say goodbye to my mother and Vick Rory and Posy say goodbye to their mother and brother. My mother, Hazelle and Gale are taken to where they need to be. I grab hold of Posy's hand. My hand vibrates and Posy puts her arm around me and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I know she's trying to calm me down. We all walk to where kids stand to sign in for the Reaping. I still hold Posy's hand, not wanting to let go. Rory and Vick stand behind us. Posy lets go and they take a small sample of her blood and the monitor beeps and her name appears with her age. This is our 2nd Reaping. I'm 6 months older than Posy, but she will turn 13, like me, in a few days. Posy moves away and they do the same thing with me Vick and Rory. We hear Peacekeepers do test on the microphone and the screens are in blue. I take my place next to Posy and we grab hands. My heart beats faster than ever.  
"It's ok." Posy mouths at me. I shake my head at her, nothing is ok. I'll be reaped and forced into the arena with my sister.  
"Prim," whispers Posy to me. "You won't get reaped because I prayed. I told God with all my heart for you to not be reaped because I know how terrified you are. And out of all the names in that orb, I doubt your name will come out." Posy hugs me tight. I try not to be afraid. I remember that Katniss told me to not let fear rule my life, I try and try but it's too much. Everyone is in their place now. Me and Posy were moved a few paces back and the 12 year olds are in front. 2 Peacekeepers place the orb in the boy's side. I glance at where the boys stand and I catch Vick's eyes.  
"It'll be ok." he mouths at me like Posy did. I don't even notice, until now, that tears have fallen down my cheeks. I'm more than scared now, I'm terrified. I hear the Justice Buildings door open and the mayor of 12 and the important people sit in the chairs that have been added for them. Effie, the woman that does the reapings, I know her for the times she has come to our house, comes out also. Effie walks up to the microphone and taps it delicately to see if it's on.  
"Welcome, Welcome. Happy Hunger Games, and May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!" Effie says excitedly "Now before we begin, we have a very special film, brought to you all the way from the Capitol!" The film begins and is the same one as always; how the rebellion was and how a district was destroyed, and after that the games were stated.  
"Now, it's time to select one young man or woman, to represent District 12, in the 3rd Annual Quarter Quell." My heart beats even faster. Me and Posy hold each other's hand tight. I tilt my head down; I don't want to hear my name. I feel Posy tilt her head also. We hear Effie's footsteps echo and she reads the name out loud. It's not me; it's nobody... but the person next to me. My best friend...


	10. Chapter 10

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 10:

Posy's POV:

It's me. Out of all the names in that orb, my name came out. How can this be? One second you know it's not going to be you and the next, it is. I look up and see Prim, how her feelings have worsen even more. I pull her in for a hug.

"Posy, where are you darling?" the lady asks. I really don't know the lady's name. I let go. I walk through the crowd of girls as they stare at me and I dry my tears before they fall. I make it to the middle and I'm escorted to the stage by 4 Peacekeepers. I walk up and the lady takes me by the shoulders and brings me to the center of the stage.

"There we are." the lady says "Let's give a round of applause to Posy!" She starts clapping but no one ever joins in. The all pull out their 3 middle fingers, kiss them and point them up to me; as a respect to the dead and/or the one about to die. My heart sinks. I don't want to find my brothers in the crowd or my mother and Gale in the back, it's too painful. And Prim, this most kill her; me and her sister, with only one of us to make it back.

"Happy Hunger Games, And May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor!" the lady says and 2 Peacekeepers escort me to a room. I look out the window. Kids hug their parents and men start packing the cameras, banners and screens. My door opens and my family and Prim walk in.

"You got 3 minutes." says a Peacekeeper. I go for Prim first; I give her a tight hug. Her face is soaking with tears; my family's also. Tears escape my eyes.

"I told you, you weren't getting reaped." I say.

"I didn't want you to be." Prim says crying. I let go and stare into her eyes.

"Prim, you are my very best friend and I love you so much; but it's like I said, there's always a reason for things, and you are just going to have to find out why this happened." I say more tears leaving my eyes. She nods.

"Take this." Prim says. She gives me the mockingjay pin that's pined to her shirt. "For Good Luck."

"Thank You." I say. We give each other a tight hug again; I let go and move to Vick and Rory. I give them a tight hug also.

"I'm going to miss you guys." I say crying.

"We're going to miss you too." Rory says. I let go.

"Can you two do me a favor?" I say.

"Anything." says Rory.

"Take care of Princess for me." Princess is my stuff bunny that my mother gave me as a Birthday present when I was 3.

"We will." Vick says.

"If I do go to heaven, I'll be watching you through her. I know you guys are going to be great inventors." I say and hug them tight again.

"Thank You." Vick says.

"I love you, guys." I say. I move to Gale. He kneels down since I'm smaller than him and we hug.

"Thank you so much for being there for me all these years." I say to Gale.

"You're welcome." he says "I love you."

"I love you too." I say and give him a kiss on the cheek. And now comes my mother, the most hurtful of all. I go in for the hug and now it's when the tears really do fall. The woman that gave me birth is going to see me die.

"I'm sorry," I start "You shouldn't be going through this. First it's dad and now me."

"Posy," my mother says letting go. I see her face filled with tears. "I'm going to love you forever and always like your father." I know we don't have much time so I hold on to the moment and hug her again. My mother lets go and I wonder why.

"I want you to have this." she takes off the old golden necklace, that's shape of a heart, from around her neck and puts it around me. "My mother gave it to me for my 13th Birthday and I was going to give it to you then, but since I can't, you can have it now. I put a picture of us and your father." I stare at it wondering how, and then I realize that is not a necklace, it's a locket. I open it and I see the pictures. It was when I was a baby, Vick and Rory were little kids and Gale was 7; my mother looks a bit younger. On the other side, is a full picture of my father; Even though I never met him, I love him. I give my mother another hug.

"Thank you so much." I say.

"You're Welcome." she strokes my back and then I hug the others again.

"Times up." says the Peacekeeper and they grab them, and pull them out of the room. I'm alone. I stare at the pin Prim gave me. I know her sister is more important than her best friend, so when I see Katniss, I must give her the pin. Only one of us might come back. I stay there for a few minutes until the 2 Peacekeepers come back and tell me the car has arrived. 2 more Peacekeepers join us down the stairs with the lady, which I learn her name is Effie Trinket. We get in the car and people from town try to look but the Peacekeepers stand in their way. Effie sits in the other side, with only an empty chair keeping a distance between us. The 2 Peacekeepers that were with me get in the front of the car and we drive off. I look out the window and see my District go by. More tears fall and I ignore Effie talking about how the Capitol is and how excited she is about the games. We arrive at the train station and I stop crying when I notice its luxury. More people from town are here and they try to take a look. 2 Peacekeepers get me on board and Effie behind me. She opens the door and we go inside. I'm blinded by all the luxury and food. My mouth almost hangs. I feel the soft cloth from the couch through my fingers. I sit in a chair and Effie sits in front of me.

"Even though your here an it's just for a little while, you get to enjoy all of this. The others will meet us in the Capitol. You'll love it!" Effie says. "If you need anything, avoxs will be around for your need and if you would like to dine for a snack, you can take from anything that's here. Later you'll be called for lunch and then dinner." I nod. She gets up and heads for another cart of the train. I don't do anything except sit in that chair and look out the window. The train moves fast and I don't feel a thing. I miss my family already. I'm called to lunch and I only eat the fruits from my plate. Eating the rest is like offending my family. I enjoy all the food as they sit and starve. I'm called for dinner and I don't bother to show up. I sit in my bed and put on the pajamas that my avox, Violet, has left out for me. I lie down in my bed filled with silk covers, all soft, and fall asleep.

Katniss's POV: (after the reaping)

I sit in a chair on the train. I can't believe I'm going back. I also wonder who's also coming with me into the arena. We arrive to the Capitol and we eat dinner. Effie left me and Peeta tapes of the games with the Victors will be competing with. I see Enobaria, the girl from 2. She's known for ripping open a Tribute's throat with her teeth. Johanna, the girl from 7, played a nice act in the games. She pretends to be weak Tribute so she wouldn't seem like a thread to the others and when she arrived to the arena, she was an axe murder. Beetee, the boy from 3, won by crafting some electrical trap that killed all the remaining Tributes. Finnick, the boy from 4, received the most expensive gift by a sponsor ever, a trident. He was very handsome and apparently still is; he had bunch of sponsors and the odds were in he's favor. Chaff, the boy from 11, is lost he's hand in the games. He was offered a prosthetic hand but he didn't accept it. The others won by the odds being in their favor. I see all of the games with Peeta; including Haymitch's. How she lost Maysilee and won with one single trick. Now I know what happened to he's family, because of the trick he pulled in the arena with the force fields, he's mom, brother and girlfriend were executed and now he tries to erase, what cannot be erase, by wine. The next day at lunch, the phone rings and avox points to me. I pick it up and by my surprise is Gale.

"Gale?"

"Katniss!" Gale says desperately.

"Gale, how did you contact me?"

"I'm in your house and there's a phone book here, if you didn't knew, with all the numbers of places you've been so it was kind of easy finding you."

"No I didn't know about the book." I say "Why are you calling?"

"The reapings over."

"So who's coming?" I ask; hoping he won't say Prim.

"It's Posy." Gale says. That surprises me.

"What?" I say.

"Yes and you need to do something!"

"If there's something I could I do I would, Gale, but I can't."

"I know." Gale says.

"I'm really sorry, Gale." I say "For you and your family. I really wish I could do something but I can't."

"Can you promise me something?" Gale asks.

"Yes."

"Posy wouldn't want me to do this but, would you promise me to keep her alive for as long as possible?"

"I'll see what I can do, ok?"

"Sure, bye Katniss."

"Bye, Gale." I say and we hang up. I walk back to the table and sit down.

"Who was on the phone?" Peeta asks.

"Gale." I say.

"Really?"

"I'll tell you later." I say. When we are done with lunch, I tell Peeta about my conversation with Gale. Peeta tells me that whatever happens we'll do our best.

Posy's POV: (this morning)

I wake up and I'm really hungry; I remember that I didn't show up for dinner last night. I go to the dining cart and find Effie sitting down.

"Good Morning." she says. I manage a grin and sit down and eat all my food. For the first time, I have a full stomach and it feels strange. We arrive to the Capitol in the afternoon. I'm taken to the Remake Center, where I meet Katniss and Peeta. I don't speak at all.

"You two already know your prep teams so I'll just go and introduce Posy to hers." Effie says. I can tell in Katniss's face that she wants to talk to me. When I pass through her I drop the mockingjay pin into her hand. I walk through a hall full of the Victors who are competing this year. The targets are in another hall; they are all older than me. Mostly all of them are 18 and 17 years old. There is also a 14 year old, from 5 I believe. Effie introduces me to my prep team, Cressida, Xylia and Kai. I'm changed into a robe and they start to fix my nails, eyebrows and hair and apply all sorts of creams on me. I don't get wax because they say my hairs aren't that dark and I don't have so many. Then I'm taken to a room where they say I'll meet my stylist. I feel painful and uncomfortable from all they've done to me. My door opens and my stylist comes in.

"Hello, my name is Gladius." he says shaking my hand.

"I'm Posy." I say.

"Nice to meet you! I see your prep team has done a good job on you. I know it's scary to be the youngest but trust me, with that beauty you have, you'll have sponsors like crazy." I smile at him.

"So tonight is the "Tribute Parade", as you know, they'll take you and show you off to Panem. The stylist have to dress their Tributes in clothes that represent their District but I believe we have something planned along with it. I'll be back to where you are staying at in a couple of hours with your outfit, ok?" I nod. Effie waits for me outside and she takes me to the elevator where Katniss and Peeta are. We walk into our penthouse. It's huge. I see that I can change the view of my bedroom window. From the night lights of the city, to a desert, an island or the woods. I leave it in the woods, something that will remind me of home. I hear a knock on my door.

"Come in." I say. Katniss comes in.

"Hey." she says.

"Hi."

"Posy, you have no idea how bad I feel about this." Katniss says sitting down in my bed. I sit down next to her and listen.

"If there's anything I could do to go back and change this from happening, I would."

"Katniss, there's a reason why I'm here. It's like I said to Prim, things happen for a reason." I say.

"I know." Katniss asks me "How did you get the pin?"

"Prim gave it to me for good luck, when we were saying goodbye." I say "I know only one of us gets to go home and I know since you're her sister, she'll need you more in life."

"I'll think of something to do." Katniss says.

"You really don't have to. It's either one of us or none." I say.

"Posy, I just don't want you to think like this." Katniss says.

"Ok, then I'll stop thinking like that."

"Posy-" starts Katniss but a knock on the door cuts her off; Effie peeks in.

"Is time for dinner; then your stylists will be here with the outfits." We get off the bed and walk to the table where Peeta and Haymitch are already dining.

"So you're the Target of 12, sweetie?" says Haymitch. I nod.

"Can you speak?" Haymitch asks annoyed.

"Yes, I'm speaking to you right now." I say.

"And I guess you have a strategy already." Haymitch says cutting a piece of chicken.

"I was hoping you could give me advice."

"Advice? Here's some. Stay alive."

"How?"

"You breathe through your lungs."

"Other than that?"

"Find food and shelter."

"How?"

"By finding it."

"But how?"

"I've already told you."

"Never mind." I say sighing.

"When we get to the Training Center I'll tell you what you need to know." Katniss whispers to me.

"Thanks." I whisper back and finish my dinner. Effie talks about how excited she is to see the outfits. In a half-hour our stylist come and give us our outfits and we head to where the event will take place.

Katniss's POV:

At first we wear a fitted black jumpsuit that covers us from neck to foot. Me and Peeta wear a crown of black metal. With the light of the room its twilight and Cinna presses a button located in our wrists and our outfits glow. The colors blend and rise and fall, exactly how coal does. I'm fascinated by it.

"How did you do this?" Posy asks.

"We spent hours watching fires." Cinna answers.

"It's incredible!" I say. Cinna smiles.

"We better turn it off so the battery pack won't run off." Portia says. We turn it off and find our chariot with our black horses. Gladius fixes Posy's hair into a French braid crown and ties the rest of the hair in a bun; Cinna makes me a side fishtail braid and Portia combs Peeta's hair to the side like last year.

"This time," starts Cinna to the three of us "don't smile and wave, just look straight ahead." We nod.

"We best be going." Says Portia "The event will start soon." They leave and Haymitch comes up and starts talking to Peeta about something. Me and Posy brush the horses hair. In a distance I see an electronic board that has the names of all the Tributes that are here.

DISTRICT 1: Gloss, Cashmere; Autumn.

DISTRICT 2: Brutus, Enobaria; Ash.

DISTRICT 3: Beetee, Wiress; Winter.

DISTRICT 4: Finnick, Mags; Marco.

DISTRICT 5: Eli, Daisha; Philomena.

DISTRICT 6: Rashaan, Samara; Aaron.

DISTRICT 7: Blight, Johanna; Skylar.

DISTRICT 8: Woof, Cecilia; Meadow.

DISTRICT 9: Paige, Uilliam; Zayden.

DISTRICT 10: Vernon, Adeline; Quinn.

DISTRICT 11: Chaff, Seeder; River.

DISTRICT 12: Peeta, Katniss; Posy.

Most of the Victors I recognize. I know a lot of the Victors are famous in the Capitol for extraordinary things they did in the Games. I remember the things that some of them did in the Games when I was watching them with Peeta. I hear a crunching sound and I turn around, there stands Finnick Odair, the Victor from 4, my eyes meet he's and he pops another sugar cube in he's mouth.

"Hello, Katniss." says Finnick "Hello, Posy."

"How do you know my name?" Posy asks. I can tell in her tone she's a bit terrified.

"All the names are in that board." Finnick says pointing to it. "Now if you don't mind." He says turning to me.

"No I don't mind." says Posy. Finnick gives her a dirty look.

"Want a sugar cube?" Finnick offers me. A laugh escapes from Posy.

"Isn't that for horses?" Posy asks.

"They got years to live and eat sugar cubes, unlike us..." answers Finnick.

"No thanks, Finnick." I say. I feel uncomfortable with him so close. He's District is fishing and he's draped in a golden net, muscles exposed. Finnick takes my hand and looks at me in the eyes.

"It's too bad about this. You had to cancel your wedding and I think you've could've made a bandit in the Capitol." Finnick says.

"I have more money than I need. Do you spend yours?" I ask.

"I haven't deal with anything as money." Finnick says.

"How do they pay you for the enjoinment of your company?" I ask.

"With all sorts of secrets." Finnick passes he's index finger up and down my cheek softly. I blush but I try not to show it.

"Do you have any secrets that are worth my time, girl on fire?" Finnick asks. I stop him from stroking my cheek and put he's hand down.

"I'm an open book, Finnick." I say.

"So I believe people know your secrets before you do." Finnick says. I nod.

"Take your places! The Parade is going to start in a few minutes!" says a lady.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the Training Center." Finnick says.

"Yeah, see you then." I say. He pops another sugar cube in he's mouth and walks away.

"Was he just hitting on you?" Posy asks.

"I am not sure." I answer.

"I think he's up to something." Posy says.

"Mabey." I say. Peeta and Haymitch walk up to us.

"Remember to just look straight ahead." Haymitch says "Cinna, Portia and Gladius are letting you smile and wave to the crowd, but not too much, Posy." Posy nods. Haymitch leaves and we climb into our chariot; me and Peeta in front and Posy in the back.

"What did Finnick want?" Peeta asks.

"He first offered me a sugar cube- "

"Which are supposed to be for the horses." Posy says.

"And then he wanted to know my secrets." I say. "What were you talking about with Haymitch?"

"He wants us to have allies and was given me options."

"What?" I say.

"He said he'll explain to you and Posy tomorrow at breakfast."

The anthem begins and the first chariots start moving and the crowd cheers. We turn on our suits and the horses start to move. Me and Peeta grab hands and the crowd cheers at the sight of us. Another spectacular outfit by Cinna. Me and Peeta look straight ahead and I catch us on the screens. We look like a flock of dark glowing coal. Posy waves to some of the citizens and once in while she's lost in the luxury of the Capitol. When we reach the end, I see stylist have copied Cinna and Portia's idea of illuminating their tributes; pathetic. Snow gives a speech on welcoming us to the Quell and the anthem begins again. The doors to the Training Center open and we all enter. Cinna, Portia, Gladius and Haymitch wait for us there. Haymitch is with the tributes of 11; Chaff, Seeder , who have dark skin and dark eyes with dark hair and look to be about 30 years old; and their target River. River is a 15 year old boy with dark skin, blue eyes and dirty blonde hair like Peeta but darker. I remember seeing Chaff and Seeder on their tape of the Games. Cinna, Portia and Gladius walk over to us and by the expression in their faces I can tell they were pleased by our performance. I catch the District 6 tributes eyes, the morphlings Samara and Rashaan, who look to be about 20 years old, bone thin with sagging yellowish skin; and their target, Aaron, a 17 year old boy with tan skin, yellowy eyes and brown hair.

"You all did great!" Portia says.

"Thank you." Says Peeta. Haymitch comes to us with Chaff, Seeder and River. He introduces them to us.

"The families?" I mouth worried to Seeder. I never found out if Rue and Thresh's families are alive.

"They're alive." She mouths back and I smile. Chaff puts he's good arm around me and kisses me. I jerk back quickly and he and Haymitch go off to another direction. Capitol attendants firmly start directing us to the elevator and the Districts 5 to 12 take the elevator. Our stylist are forced to wait for the next elevator. We all are crowded into the elevator and everyone starts talking to each other. Johanna, the female Victor of 7 pushes her way next to me.

"My outfit is horrible isn't it? I wish I had Cinna, you look fantastic!" Johanna says. She's from District 7, which means Lumber; her outfit is a tree.

"Thanks. You should really see what he can do with velvet." The first fabric that pops in my head. I'm not really good at girl talk.

"I've seen. The strapless dress you wore in District 2 in the tour was gorgeous!" Johanna says. I smile at her. The sounds of everyone talking dies down as we stop in their floor and they get off. Johanna and Peeta spend the rest of the ride to the 7th floor talking about he's paintings. When Chaff and Seeder leave, Peeta burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" I ask.

"You." Peeta says laughing.

"What did I do?" I ask.

"The reason why Finnick was offering you the sugar cube, Chaff kissed you and Johanna was talking about get ups with you is because you're so—you know!" Peeta says.

"No I don't know." I say.

"Pure, Katniss! You are pure!" Peeta says laughing.

"I am not!" I yell while he laughs "Posy am I pure?!"

"I don't feel comfortable answering that question." Posy says.

"No, Katniss! I mean you are pure to the Capitol." Peeta says trying not to laugh. I don't get how this is so funny.

"Why are you laughing at me?!" I yell.

"I'm not, Katniss—"I'm annoyed now. The elevator door opens and we walk in. Peeta calms a bit down and I'm mad at him. He calls me but I ignore him and walk to my room. I take off the makeup and get into my pajamas and drift off to sleep. Tomorrow we all start training for the games.


	11. Chapter 11

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 11:

Katniss's POV:

I wake up just in time to hear a knock on my door to head for breakfast. I put on the same uniform that Cinna has left out for me to go Training. Dining at the table are Effie, Haymitch, Peeta and Posy. I'm always last; and I'm guessing our stylists are still sleep. I eat my eggs with bacon and fruits, and drink my orange juice that will give me energy at the training.

"Now that you are all here, let's get down to business." Haymitch says "While you are training, Katniss and Peeta, act in love and make friends; just like I was telling Peeta yesterday."

"Why? I don't trust all of them." I say.

"They have all known each other for years and they are going to hunt you first if you don't get to know them." Haymitch responds.

"Do I have to make friends?" Posy asks.

"Yes. Or unless you like to be killed first." Haymitch answers. Posy nods.

"So, can we make our own Carrer pack?" I ask.

"If you like. I suggest Chaff, Seeder and River. The kid is young but strong for a 15 year old from 11." Haymitch says about River.

"What about Finnick Odair?" Peeta asks.

"Yeah. Pick people who are going to be useful." Haymitch says. I take that as advice and keep it in mind.

"I'll try." I tell Haymitch. When we finish breakfast, we go down the elevator to the Training Center where only Enobaria, Brutus who both seems to be about 35 and Ash, who is Brutus younger brother (that's 18 years old), District 8 and 9 are there also. Me and Peeta take each other's hands and we act like an inseparable team. I am still mad at him for laughing at me, though. Around 10'o clock, all the other Tributes start to arrive. Atala, who runs the Training Center, makes her usual speech as we stand around her and then releases us to train on which ever station we like. I take Posy to the 'knot-tying' station and Peeta goes to throw some spears with Brutus, Chaff, River and Marco, the target of 4. Posy does pretty well in knot-tying for a beginner; District 5 stare at Posy as her fingers work fast, making a trap to hang a Tribute by their foot and another by their neck. The trainer in this station sees me on an advanced stage and he reviews some knot-tying skills. Me and Posy head to the 'building-fires' station later on. Even though I know how, I'm not perfect at it. The Victors of District 3, Beetee and Wiress, and their target, Winter, are there also. Winter is a 17 year old girl and wears glasses just like Beetee does. It's kind of obvious to tell if Wiress is from District 3 because her name has the word 'Wire' in it and her District is Technology/Electronics. I glance at the Training Center and see where everyone is. Johanna and her target, 15 year old Skylar, the male Victor of 9, Uilliam and the target of 10, 16 year old, Quinn are in the 'knife-throwing' station, the morphlings of 6, Samara and Rashaan, their target, 17 year old Aaron and Zayden, the target of 9 (also 17 years old) are in the 'camouflage' station. Aaron and Zayden are the only ones working; Samara and Rashaan are painting each other's faces with bright pink swirls. A group of Tributes are in the 'sword fighting', 'spear throwing', 'bow and arrows shooting' and 'wrestling' stations. There's only one person in the 'identifying edible plants and insects' station; the 14 year old target of District 5, Philomena. As me and Posy start our own fires, we start talking to Beetee, Wiress and Winter. I learn that Beetee and Wiress invent stuff and Winter is really smart also. They all seem friendly; and I remember that Haymitch told us to pick people who'll be useful; they might be useful in the arena. I add them to the list. Wiress starts telling me and Posy about some sort of stitching device she's working on; then Beetee starts telling us about he's recent inventions; which I find fascinated.

"Look." Wiress says interrupting Beetee. She nods at the direction of the Gamemakers. I see Plutarch eating a turkey leg and watching the group of Tributes by the sword fighting station.

"That's a turkey leg, Wiress." Says Winter.

"I know. I mean you can just, make it out. . .by the corner of the table." Wiress says almost in a whisper. We all look and I see it. It's like the air is vibrating.

"A force field. Why would they set it between the Gamemakers and us?" Beetee asks.

"Me." I confess. They all stare at me with curiosity. "I shot an arrow at them in my private session last year."

"Do all force fields have a spot like that?" Posy asks saving me from the stares.

"Chink in the armor, as it were." Beetee answers. I would ask them more but lunch is announced. Peeta is with a group of Victors and they drag tables to make us eat together. Winter sits in a table so they won't take it away. We make a line to get our food. I decide to eat with District 3. As I grab the food I want Peeta joins me in line.

"Hey!" Peeta says.

"Hi."

"Find anyone useful?" Peeta asks me.

"I like District 3." I answer.

"You do? The others tell me they're a joke."  
"They are not! They happen to all be very smart. They can tell when a force field is in between of us and the Gamemakers; and they have invented things." I say.

"Johanna told me that they even have a nickname, 'Nuts and Volts'. For their target, they think she's weird." Peeta says.

"She has a name and she's smart! I don't care what the others think, I want them." I say angrily. I really don't know what I'm angry about.

"I didn't mean it as an insult. I'm just sharing information. Why are you so angry?" Peeta asks.

"It's a lot of things." I say.

"Is it because I laughed at you yesterday? I'm sorry, I thought you'd laugh also." Peeta says.

"Just forget it." I say.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me." Peeta says.

"It's the games and Haymitch making us make a pack." I say. It's also the pressure of the promise I made to Gale. I need to keep Posy alive for as long as possible and with everything I have going on with the other Tributes, my feelings are surfacing.

"It'll be fine. As allies, I would like Chaff, Seeder and River." Peeta says.

"I'm ok with Seeder and River; not so much with Chaff." I say truthfully. Peeta laughs a little.

"Why don't you eat with us?" Peeta asks. "I'll protect you from him kissing you again."

"Ok, but I was going to eat with District 3 so I'll get them to eat with us. " I say.

" I'll save you a sit next to me." I nod and we all eat together. Chaff didn't seem so bad at lunch. He makes bad jokes and he's sober. I can see why Haymitch likes him, when he's thoughts run darkly. I'm still not sure about him as ally. After lunch I head to the 'identifying edible plants and insects' station with Cecilia and Woof; the Victors of 8. Cecilia has 3 kids and Woof is an old man. Posy leaves to the snare-setting station with Philomena. Cashmere and Gloss, the brother and sister Victors of District 1, invite me to make hammocks with their Target, Autumn (15 years old). They seem cool. I remember how I killed Glimmer and Marvel. And one of them, Cashmere or Gloss, had to be their mentor. I meet Enobaria at the sword fighting station. We exchange complements but it doesn't seem like we'll team up in the arena. Finnick appears now; I haven't talked to him since yesterday before the Tribute Parade. He introduces me to Mags, the old woman Victor from he's District. He also introduces me to he's Target, Marco (18 years old). Mags seems pretty nice but I can't make out a single word she says. We go to the 'snare-setting' stations, after Philomena and Posy leave to the 'identifying edible plants and insects' stations, and I'm surprised how Mags can make a fishhook out of anything. She helps me make a fishhook and gives me comments and tips on which I understand half of it. I decide she'll be useful so I want her on my team. Haymitch will "love" me having an old woman and Nuts, Volts and Weird. Great. I go to the 'bow and arrows shooting' station so I can relax. I shoot and I hit bulls' eye every time. The trainer, Tax, tells me to shoot the fake birds he's going to throw in the air and I do. I turn around and half the Victors and Targets are looking at me. The next hour passes quickly and we are assembled to start the 'Obstacle Course'. No one falls this time. Last year, the female Tribute of District 3, fell and cut her lip. After Training, me and Peeta hang out the rest of the day until Haymitch and Effie arrive for dinner.

"Apparently half the Victors want you, Katniss, as ally." Haymitch says.

"Really?" I ask surprised. He nods.

"Did you bribe them?" Haymitch asks. I shake my head.

"They saw her shoot, actually." Peeta says.

"Then I guess you're so good that even Brutus wants you as ally." Haymitch says.

"I don't want him. I want Mags and District 3." I say.

"I knew it." Haymitch sighs. "I'll just tell everyone you are still making up your mind." I nod.

"Who do you want, Peeta?" Haymitch asks him.

"So far, District 11." Peeta answers. I see a grin on Haymitch's face.

"Good; and you?" asks Haymitch to Posy; she shrugs.

"Well, the mentor of District 5 says they all want you as ally."

"They do?" Posy asks.

"He said that they said you are pretty good with knot-tying and snare-setting." Haymitch says. "They believe you'll be useful."

"I'll think about it." Posy says; Haymitch nods. We finish eating dinner and go to bed. The next day, I spend time with everyone that's going into the arena. The bad thing is that some of them I liked, but they all have to die so I can save Peeta; even Posy has too. I promised Gale to keep her alive for as long as possible. I'll keep her safe 'till she's one of the Top 10 Targets alive and her family will receive a special feast; but I think the feast is just a scam. I really don't want Posy to die, but I owe Peeta big time. I still haven't thought of what exactly I should do. They'll be winging at some point. Now comes, the private session with the Gamemakers. I'm fresh out of ideas. Haymitch gives me ideas, but I just don't think they are all useful. Victors joke around on what they should do, sing, dance, jokes. Mag says she's going to nap. We go back to our penthouse, eat dinner and then we are called back to the training center. Everyone talks and the sound dies as everyone exits. They start with the Target of District 1, then the male Victor and female; so that means I'll be last. When Seeder leaves we are left alone in dead silence.

"Do you know what you are going to do for the Gamemakers?" Peeta asks Posy.

"Some knot-tying and snare-setting." Posy says. "I'll save my shooting for the arena."

"And you, Katniss?" he asks me.

"No clue, you?" I ask.

"Also no clue." Peeta says.

"Why don't you do some camouflage?" Posy asks Peeta.

"If the morphings had left me anything to work with." Peeta says. We sit in quite until a computer voice calls for Posy. She gets up and makes her way to the door.

"May the odds be in your favor." I say.

"Thanks. You guys too," and she leaves with the door closing behind her. When her footsteps' echoes die I blurt out what I've being wanting to say.

"How are we suppose to kill them, Peeta?!" I ask desperately.

"I'm not sure." Peeta answers.

"It'll be so hard now that we know them." I say. There's a pause between us.

"Was Rue's death the most despicable?" Peeta answers with an expression in he's face that I can tell he's in the middle of a thought.

"None of them where so pretty. But yes." I say, thinking of how all the Tributes died last year. The voice calls Peeta next. I sit for a few minutes in quiet and then I'm called. I walk into the Training Center and the smell of cleaners hits me and I notice a mattress has been moved to the middle. Gamemakers whisper to each other. The mood is different and I can tell something's wrong. Did Peeta do something to disappoint them? I walk to the middle and speak to take their attention.

"Katniss Everdeen, District 12." I say getting their attention. I turn around knowing that my time is ticking. I go to the 'knot-tying' station and start making a trap that will hang a Tribute by their neck. I haven't done this trap in a long time and I only remember Posy's fingers moving fast but I try to slow them down in my mind. I go to the 'sword-fighting' station and grab a dummy that has no arms. The others have no head or/and legs. I set it on the right position with only 5 minutes left. The trap works! I go to the camouflage station and find a bottle with bloodred berry juice and with two fingers I write the words "Seneca Crane" from across its chest. The Gamemakers shriek. They all murmur to each other desperately as I stand in front of them.

"You may go, Ms. Everdeen." Says Plutarch. I leave the bloodred berry juice bottle in the camouflage station. I make my way to the elevator and into the penthouse. Everyone sits in front of the TV for our Scores to appear. They all snack in some crackers and some strange dip. Peeta and Posy both sit in the floor enjoying the snack. As I come nearer the smell of the dip hits me and it delicious.

"How did it go on your private sessions?" Haymitch asks as he notices me. I exchange looks with Peeta.

"Why don't we let Posy go first since she's new?" I say quickly. Haymitch gives me a dirty look. I'm starting to think that what I did might not save Peeta or it was too dangerous. I'm worried now.

"So what did you do?" Haymitch asks Posy.

"Just some knot-tying and snare-setting." She says.

"And you?" Haymitch asks Peeta.

"Well, I did some camouflage, like you suggested Posy," says Peeta staring into Posy's hazel eyes that look gray because of her training outfit. He hesitates and continues. "Not exactly camouflage, I used dyes." And that's why I smelled cleaners in the Training Center. Everyone stares at Peeta curiously.

"What did you do, exactly?" Portia asks curious.

"You painted something, didn't you?" I ask Peeta; he nods.

"Did you see it?" Peeta asks.

"No. They covered it up with a mattress." I say remembering it.

"What did you paint?" Effie asks curiously.

"Rue." Peeta says. My heart sinks.

"Who's Rue?" Posy asks.

"Didn't you see the games last year?" Effie asks.

"Not all of it." Posy answers. Effie opens her mouth to answer Posy but I cut her off to answer.

"Rue was a girl, same age as you, from 11. We were allies in the arena and I lost her by a Carrer." I say.

"Oh. . . I'm sorry." Posy says.

"It's ok. I learn from my mistakes." I say. Posy's about to respond but Effie cuts her off.

"For that act, Peeta," starts Effie."You'll bring down more trouble."

"You two just can't keep yourselves out of trouble, can't you?" Haymitch asks annoyed.

"I was just trying to hold them accountable for what they did. " Peeta says. Cinna, Portia and Gladius all remain silence but have a serious look on their faces. I think what he did was amazing.

"What did you do?" Haymitch asks me.

"I. . . um. . . hung. . . Seneca Crane." I say shyly.

"You what?" Cinna asks.

"You hung Seneca Crane?" Portia asks.

"As a dummy." I add quickly.

"I don't know too much but I think that's worse." Gladius says.

"Oh, Katniss. . ." says Effie in a hushed voice.

"I was just showing off my knot-tying skills and next thing I knew it was that." I say. Everyone stares at me and Peeta seriously.

"At least someone didn't mess up." Says Haymitch drinking some wine.

"Thanks. . . I guess." Posy says. There's a pause between all of us.

"Haymitch, we've decided not to have any more allies." Peeta says trying to change the subject.

"Then I guess I won't be responsible for you killing off my friends." We wait a few minutes and Caesar Flickerman with his partner, Cladius Templesmith, appears on the screen. They give a beginning speech on how the Tributes get their score and everything. They start with District 1. Target, male and then female Victor. The faces of the Tributes appear and their score under them. Cashmere, Gloss, Autumn, Brutus, Enobaria, Ash, Chaff, Finnick and Marco get high scores of 10 or 11. I wonder what Chaff did to get a high score with one hand. The others get a score of 4 to 6. Posy and Philomena get 7s like Rue. Me and Peeta make Hunger Games history when we pull 12. Posy congratulates us but everyone else just stays silent. We're order to go t bed. Tomorrow is our last day at the Capitol because the next day the Games start. Tomorrow night we have our interviews with Caesar Flickerman and I'm sure Effie and Haymitch are going to wake us early for coaching sessions for the interview. Peeta walks me to my room. When he's about to leave I pull him into a hug.

"I'm sorry." I say.

"For what?" Peeta says.

"For making things worse." I say.

"Not worse like me." Peeta says.

"You just painted a picture," I say. "I hung Seneca."

"Why did you do it?" he asks.

"Trying to show that I'm more than just a piece in their games." I say. Peeta laughs a little. I smile. He said the same thing the night before the Games when we both couldn't sleep.

"Me too." He says. I feel him smiling. We let go and I stare at his hazel eyes. I notice that he and Posy have things alike. Other than both of their names starting with a 'P' and their eyes being hazel. They both want to save me, they have the same kind heart and same sense a humor.

"What do you want to do tomorrow? It is our last day." I ask.

"Don't we have coaching?" Peeta asks.

"Yeah. But if we didn't?"

"Spend every possible minute I have with you." Peeta says. I smile at him. We go into my room and fall asleep without even thinking it. I've forgotten what a real sleep feels like. My dream with Rue continues. We're still walking to where she's taking me. I have no idea where. I enjoy the beauty and the mockingjays sing. Rue stops and she starts to look for someone.

"Who are you looking for, Rue?" my voice echoes. She doesn't respond. It's like she can't speak. She looks behind a tree. I feel myself fall and hold on to the bed in panic. Is morning. My heart beats fast. How come dreams feel so long and time is so short? I, again didn't arrive where she wanted to take me. But I have hope that the dream will come back. I hurry out of bed and look out the window, hoping to see the woods but instead I find buildings. I miss my district. The sunshine comes in and my eyes sting. Peeta wakes up. I forgot he was still here.

"What's wrong?" He asks me. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"No." I answer sitting down next to him. "The same dream with me and Rue. But this time, she was looking for someone or something."

"Who?" Peeta asks.

"I never found out whom or what. I also didn't arrive again." I say. "It's like the dream only comes when I'm with you."

"Maybe she's sending you a message." Peeta says.

"Maybe." I say. "Did you have nightmares?"

"None." He says with a smile. We lie down again for a while. A note passes through the bottom of the door. I go to claim it. It's written in Effie's handwriting. It reads that she and Haymitch have agreed to only coach Posy and let me and Peeta up to it.

"What's it say?" Peeta asks.

"It says that we have the day off." I say with a smile. He smiles also and we decide to spend all day in the garden in the roof. We grab lots of food and a blanket. We are not disturbed all day. Deep down I feel bad for Posy. I left her alone, but me being away from her stops me from thinking on how to keep her alive for as long as possible. While I'm with Peeta, we both forget that we are here to die. When sunset starts to set we know soon we'll be called to get ready for the interview. I lie in Peeta's lap making a flower crown with daisies. Peeta plays with my hair, claiming that he's practicing knots. I watch the shades of orange up in the sky; I remember that orange sunset was Peeta's favorite color.

"It is pretty." I say.

"I know." Peeta says. He most know what I'm talking about.

"I think this might be our last sunset." Peeta says sadly.

"It's a shame that Posy's missing it." I say. She's missing the most beautiful sunset.

"Not exactly." Peeta says. I look up at him and he nods at some direction. It's a window that pops forward, like an inside porch. In a chair sits Posy, her head resting in her hand. The sunset reflects in her eyes.

"Good." I say with a smile.

"If only we could freeze this moment and live in it forever." Peeta says.

"Yeah." I say with a sigh. Soon, the shades of orange turn purple and Effie comes up to get us ready. Avoxs pick up our mess and I have a last glance at the window. Gladius takes Posy away to get ready. Peeta walks me to my room. I give him a kiss on the cheek and thank him for the wonderful day. I enter my room and Venia, Octavia and Flavius have already set their things. I sit on the chair and let them do their work. After a few minutes they start to cry and wipe their tears away. I guess I haven't realize how addicted I've become to them. Me dying must be a real pain to them. They don't even speak. Cinna comes in later on and sends them away saying they did a great job on me. He takes me by my hands and pulls me in for a hug.

"It has been an honor to make you look your best, Katniss." Says Cinna softly.

"Thank you," I say letting go. "What am I wearing tonight?" Cinna reaches out for a bag he had in his hands and takes out one of the wedding dresses I had modeled a few days ago.

"The Capitol has voted and President Snow has ordered for you to wear it tonight." Says Cinna. I put the dress on and Cinna zips it and fixes some touches of the dress. The dress feels heavier than it was before.

"Was this dress always this heavy?" I ask.

"I had to add some alterations because of the lighting." Says Cinna. I nod but I don't get the difference. He puts a pearl necklace around my neck, a veil and gives me a pair of small high heels. He puts my hair in a braided hair bun. Cinna has me walk to see how it all looks.

"Perfect." Says Cinna. "Now Katniss, I don't want you to raise your arms until you twirl."

"I'm twirling again?" I ask.

"Yes. If Caesar doesn't ask you to then you offer it yourself. But not right away, for the big finale." Cinna instructs me. I nod. We go to the living room where everyone is. Peeta wears a tuxedo with white gloves and Posy wears a blue dress, which ends above her knees, with a golden ribbon tied around her waist and her hair straight loose. I stand between Peeta and Posy as our stylist dismisses our prep teams.

"You look beautiful, Katniss." says Posy.

"Thank you, so do you." I say.

"Thank You. This dress is uncomfortable." Posy says. I remember the feeling but it's lost since I've gotten used to it.

"You'll get use to it." I say.

"You do look beautiful." Says Peeta.

"Thank you. You look very handsome." I say. He smiles at me.

"So what are the ideas for the interview?" asks Haymitch when our stylists come back.

"The plan is to wing it." I say. Peeta nods in agreement. Effie covers her eyes with her right hand without touching her makeup.

"Now we know Katniss and Peeta's interviews are going to be a stunner."

"Remember what we taught you Posy." Effie says and she nods. We head to the elevator and take a cab to the studio where all the other Tributes are. They all talk and at the sight of me they shut up. Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, Portia and Gladius leave to their seats. Everyone stares at me as I take my spot at the back of the line with Posy in front and Peeta behind.

"I can't believe you are wearing that." Says Finnick.

"I didn't have a choice." I say. "Snow wanted me too." Cashmere gives me a dirty look and pulls her brother and Autumn into place. While some are mad, others give me a smile. Johanna straightens my pearl necklace and gives me a smile.

"One minute!" yells a producer over the noise. All the others get into place. The order this year is Target, female and male. Caesar introduces Autumn into stage. She's a thin girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears a short red dress and heels. Her hair swings side to side in curls just like Cashmere's are when her turn comes. Cashmere makes a speech about how she cannot stop crying when she thinks about how the residents of the Capitol must be suffering with the thought of the loss of 23 victors. Gloss thanked the Capitol for their kindness to him and his sister. Brutus talks about him and he's brother on the Games; Ash does the same and how excited he is. Beetee questioned the legality of the Third Quarter Quell. Finnick reads a love note to "his one true lover in the Capitol" (Almost all of the Capitol females believed it was directed at them). Johanna asks if it really is impossible to do something about the situation of the Quell, seeing as when the twist was first written, it was not taken into account the bond that would inevitably form between the victors and the Capitol. Chaff states that President Snow could change the Quell at any moment if he wanted. Seeder quietly ponders about how the people of District 11 all think President Snow is all-powerful and asks; if he is so powerful why doesn't he just change the Quell. The others have a normal interview like last year. A producer takes Posy away and it's her turn.

Posy's POV:

I wait behind a screen. The screens change into pictures of me, Katniss and Peeta. Behind the chairs it looks like an endless hallway.

"Now, let's give a round of applause to the Target of District 12, Posy!" I walk to the stage. Citizens cheer and others stand. Haymitch told me that the ones that stand are the sponsors I already have. I don't have to force the smile at all. I wave to the crowd and sit in my chair. Caesar quiets the crowd and my interview starts.

"So, Posy. We all know you are the youngest Tribute in the Quarter Quell, how do you feel about that?" Caesar asks me.

"Well, I don't think that will affect me at all. Just because I'm the youngest that doesn't mean I won't last long in the arena." I answer. I try not to show my nervousness.

"And how was it, growing up with a family that are all male?" Caesar asks. Men cheer and a laugh escapes from me.

"Growing up with my brothers, I think, was really helpful. I've learned a lot from them. Especially from my older brother." I respond.

"What would you say to them, if they were here right now?"

"I would say," I look into the camera and forget the crowd and Caesar. "I miss you all and I love you all very much with all my heart." The crowd 'awwws. I look back at Caesar.

"That's very touching." Says Caesar. I smile. "Last question. So, we know how you are all close to Katniss, how does it feel, that only one of you get to go home to your families?"

"I am very close to Katniss. And I think she should get to go home." The crowd gasps. "No, really. I told her before, when I arrived. Prim needs her sister more than her best friend in life. There's a reason why my name came out of that orb, it's because Prim needs her sister more. Even if I become an angel, I'll be around her and my family." The crowd stays silent and my eyes fill with tears.

"I wish you all the best odds." Caesar says and kisses my hand.

"Thank You." I say. I hear a small buzz and I know my 3 minutes are up.

"Posy Hawthorne, District 12!" Caesar says and almost everybody stands up and cheers. I walk out of the stage while I wave. I meet Effie and Haymitch at the other side.

"You did wonderful!" Effie exclaims.

"Thank You." I say as I dry my tears.

"You did great, kid." Haymitch says.

"Thank You." I say. And know is Katniss's turn.

Katniss's POV:

I feel bad now. After what Posy said it makes me feel bad about me thinking of her having to die. Am I doing the correct thing of choosing Peeta to live? It's my turn now. Caesar introduces me; when they see me in the dress it causes a riot. Caesar tries to quiet them down. My 3 minutes are ticking. Caesar sits down and the crowd finally quiets a bit down; enough for people to hear me speak.

"This is a very emotional night for everyone. What would you like to say, Katniss?"

"Just that, I'm sorry you won't be able to assist my wedding but I'm glad you got to see me in the dress." I say. I know it's time to twirl and I do. I get up from my chair and raise my arm above my head and slowly twirl. Citizens in the crowd scream and others gasp. I notice, then, something rising around me. It's smoke. Fire is starting to create. I'm starting to panic. The smoke thickens and it's getting hard for me to read. I'm afraid to stop. Cinna is behind all of this. The flames come to a stop and the smoke goes away. The wedding dress is now the color coal and made of tiny feathers. I lift my long sleeves and I see it on the reflection of the camera. Cinna has turned me into a mockingjay.

"You're a bird!" Caesar exclaims.

"I think is the bird that's on my token. A mockingjay." I say. I give my wings a little flap.

"Cinna, you better take a bow! Nobody can argue with that, it's spectacular!" A light finds Cinna in the crowd and he takes a small bow. I feel fear for him. He did something incredibly dangerous. Cinna just made an act of rebellion for me. I'm afraid he has hurt himself and is beyond repair. The crowd snaps away from the stunning moment and break into a wild applause. I barely hear the buzzer that says my 3 minutes are up. I thank Caesar and say goodbye to the crowd. I meet Haymitch, Effie and Posy off stage again.

"That was amazing!" says Effie excitedly.

"That was quite some 'winging it', sweetheart." Haymitch says.

"Yeah, thanks." I say. I, myself, am still stunned.

"That was great." Posy says.

"Thank You." I say. "You did great also."

"Thank You." Says Posy. I give her a side hug and we stay like that. Now it's Peeta's interview.

Peeta's POV:

Caesar introduces me to the crowd. The crowd goes insane. They cheer and everybody stands up. I shake hands with Caesar and take my seat. We start with a few jokes but I can tell in my tone of voice I sound preoccupied, and I am.

"So, Peeta. After everything you've been through, how did you take the news of the Quell?" Caesar asks me.

"I was in shock. One minute I'm living my life with Katniss and the next. . ." I trail off.

"You realized the wedding was never going to happen." Caesar asks gently. I pause for a long moment. I think of something to do.

"Do you think everybody here can keep a secret?" I blurt out slowly. It's too late now. I can turn back around so I must say it.

"I'm sure they will." Caesar says. Murmurs go around and it's time. I hope Katniss forgives me.

"Me and Katniss are already married." I say. It feels like a knife in my heart. The crowd reacts quickly.

"How can that be?" asks Caesar surprised.

"It's not official." I think I've might calmed it down. "We just did the toasting ceremony we do in District 12. That's when we toast a loaf together for the first time."

"Were all your families at the ceremony?" Caesar asks as people still cheer and everything.

"We kept a secret between us." I say.

"And it was before the Quell?"

"Yes. And now only one of us gets to live." I say starting to get upset. I am upset. Upset because I'm taking a big risk here and I could get Katniss in bigger problems. I need to keep her alive in the arena. Me and Posy want her to go home and live. She's most important to people. Caesar puts an arm around my shoulders

"I'm glad you two at least had a few months together." Caesar says.

"I'm not. I wish I could spend the rest of my life instead of a few months." I say upset. I feel like all my feelings are surfacing.

"But it was better that you had some time than nothing." He says.

"I would think that too." I say. "If it weren't for the baby." The crowd goes insane now. What have I done? It just slipped out. We're in huge trouble. Actually, I am. I dragged Katniss into it. I've dropped a bomb on her. Caesar looks awed. I hear my buzzer and I wave goodbye to the crowd. Once I'm off stage the tears start to fall. I see on the screen that Caesar is trying to quiet the crowd but it's no use. The other Tributes come and I dry my tears fast. We go back up to the stage and grab each other's hand. I grab Katniss's hand and she grabs Chaff's stump. The Targets then come up and I grab Posy's hand. The anthem is crank up loudly since citizens are still wild. We exit the stage and we go to the elevators. All the Victors stay and talk to their stylists and mentors. Me, Katniss and Posy head to the elevators. Finnick and Johanna try to catch up but Peacekeepers pass through their way and the doors close. My tears start to fall again. I grab Katniss by the shoulders.

"Is there anything I have to apologize for?" I ask desperately.

"No." Katniss answers. That surprises me.

"It'll be fine." Posy says to me. The elevator doors open and Haymitch is already here.

"Is madness out there." Haymitch says.

"Are they going to cancel the games?" I ask.

"There's no way Snow would do that." Haymitch answers me.

"Where are the others?" Katniss asks.

"They were sent home. No way can they get through the mob." Haymitch says.

"So we won't see Effie again. Just like last year. Would you give her our thanks?" I ask.

"More than that." Katniss says cutting Haymitch from answering me. "Tell her she was the best escort and that we appreciate everything she's done for us. Tell her we send it with love."

"Sure, whatever." Haymitch answers. We stand there in quiet as we hear citizens cheer outside.

"So I guess we say our goodbyes now." Says Haymitch; breaking the silence.

"Thanks for the coaching." Posy says.

"You did good, kid." He says. I see Posy grin.

"Any last words of advice?" Katniss asks.

"Stay alive." Haymitch says. That's like an old joke between us. Posy gives him a small hug. Haymitch just pats her in the back.

"Take care, Haymitch." I say. He nods.

"Go to bed." Haymitch instructs us. As we go up the stairs he calls us.

"Hey! Um. . . While you three are in the arena. . ."

"What?" Katniss asks defensively.

"Just remembered who the enemy is." Haymitch says. We stay there waiting if he says anything else.

"That's all. Get out of here." Haymitch says and we do. We stop at the hall and stare at each other. Automatically, we hug each other. I stroke Katniss's hair and hold Posy tightly.

"I guess I'll see you guys soon?" Posy asks nervously. Katniss drops to her knees slowly in front of her and pulls her in for a hug.

"Soon." Katniss whispers. I pull Posy for a hug also and leave a kiss on the top of her head and she heads to her room. Me and Katniss are left alone.

"I'll go and wash up and meet you here." I say in a hushed voice. I don't know why in that sort of tone but it came out that way.

"Ok." She answers. I clean myself and go to Katniss's room.

Katniss's POV:

We lie down in bed and fall asleep. We both wake up with a knock on the door and know it's time.

"I'll see you soon." Peeta says.

"See you soon." I say and he kisses me at the top of my head. An avox comes in and leaves me the pants, a shirt and shoes. The pants are black and the shoes match. The pants are a bit tight. I make my usual side braid and have a really small breakfast of just toast and orange juice. Peeta and Posy aren't there. Me and Haymitch go into the elevator and into the roof where two hovercrafts wait.

"You can do this, Katniss." Haymitch tells me. "You've done it once, you can do it twice." I nod. I take my seat in the hovercraft. Peeta nor Posy are there with me. We arrive to the Launch Rooms and I'm escorted by two Peacekeepers. Inside, waits Cinna. He helps me put on the jacket that looks like a leather jacket but it's not. The fabric is soft. The jacket has two big white spots on the shoulders and it contains gray and a white line from the shoulders to our feet. The outfit looks like those sort of clothes people use when they go swimming with dolphins or stuff.

"What do you think the arena would be?" I ask Cinna.

"I think somewhere were weather changes a lot." He answers. I feel fear but I can't imagine Posy. Posy! Where could she be right now? Terrified is what she is.

"Here." He says. From his pocket, he pulls out my mockingjay pin and pins it at the black shirt that's in the inside.

"Thank You." I say. We hug each other.

"My dress was beautiful and fantastic last ngiht." I say.

"I knew you like it." Cinna says. He pulls me in for a hug. "Remember this girl on fire," I let go. "I'm still betting on you even though I can't." He kisses my forehead.

"10 seconds." I hear the computer voice say. He walks me to my metal plate and the glass slides down. I wait for it to rise up but it doesn't. Behind Cinna, three Peacekeepers burst in and two of them grab Cinna by the arms and he's forced to his knees. The three of them start hitting him as hard as possible and I scream at them. I punch the glass with all my might. It's like they can't hear me. My metal plate starts to rise up. I see them take Cinna out of the room, leaving blood on the floor. I stop screaming and hitting the wall because it'll soon be gone. I hear the gears pushing all 36 of us into the arena. The sun hits me directly and I hear waves crash into our metal plates. In about 40 yards away, I see the Cornucopia pact with weapons. I look to my sides and I see where everybody is. From left to right: Uilliam, River, Skylar, Cashmere, Brutus, Mags, Eli, Aaron, Winter, Ash, Zayden, Paige, Peeta, Blight, Adeline, Cecilia, Finnick, Gloss, Seeder, Johanna, Woof, me, Vernon, Philomena, Chaff, Autumn, Enobaria, Marco, Posy, Meadow, Samara, Quinn and Daisha. I notice that some girls look like they have chicken legs (and that includes Posy) because of these, bit, tight pants. I try to make out the arena. An island. I hear the numbers changing from a distance. The 3rd Annual Quarter Quell will begin in a few seconds.


	12. Chapter 12

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 12:

Gale's POV:

My family stays home to watch the Games. I always go to the square; where its pack with citizens of District 12. They set up the screens so everyone can see. We all hear the man countdown from 60 to 1. They zoom on Tributes on their metal plates. I remember Victors from past Games and others that I never knew. My family and I hope that Posy will make it out of the Cornucopia alive. I know Katniss will protect her; she promised. When they zoom on Posy and Katniss I feel my heart sink. I see fear in Posy's face, who can blame her. Katniss is trying to see from the sun that hits her directly. They change the shot from a point of view above. We know see they have to swim and climb a small cliff to reach the Cornucopia. The arena is an island. We hear the man's voice louder. 10 seconds are left.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. . ." and the gong sounds. The Games have begun.

Katniss's POV:

I hear the gong sound. We're all alerted. Everyone's trapped in their metal plate. I know there's only one way to get to the Cornucopia; by swimming. I jump into the water and swim 40 yards to the Cornucopia. I remember that my father taught me how to swim in a lake inside the woods. I climb a little cliff and I'm at the Cornucopia. No other Tribute is here but I hear others jumping into the water so I try to hurry up and find a bow. I find one and I sense somebody close behind me. I take one arrow and prepare to shoot as I turn. I turn around and it's Finnick with a trident and a net on he's other hand. He smiles a little.

"How did you learn to swim?" Finnick asks me.

"There's a huge bathtub back home where everyone fits." I answer.

"Like the arena?" he asks.

"You should. It's made specifically for you." I answer.

"Then I guess it's me who they want." Finnick says. I give him a scowl. He comes closer but I keep my weapon up.

"DUCK!" he shouts in panic. I do and he's trident sinks into Eli's heart. He's body falls to the ground, eyes open, and blood spilling into the sand. Eli was going to strangled me to death.

"You ok?" Finnick asks me as I get up. I nod.

"Thank You." I say.

"You're Welcome. Are we allies?" he asks.

"Guess so." I say. I know Haymitch would've want me to team up with him.

"Don't trust 1 and 2," I nod. "Take that side and search for anything useful." I run to the other side and look through the piles of weapons. I see Gloss, Enobaria, Paige and Meadow close to the cliff. All the others are still trapped in their metal plates. I quickly scan my side and there's nothing but weapons.

"There're only weapons here!" I hear Finnick shout.

"Also here!" I shout back.

"Grab what you want and let's go!" He shouts at me. I see Paige climbing up the cliff and I shoot an arrow at her. It lands on her skull. She falls into the water and blood spills. I shoot an arrow at Enobaria (that's also climbing up the cliff), but I see she was expecting it and drops to the water. I grab knives, an awl and take extra arrows. I meet with Finnick in the middle of the Cornucopia again and we see Cashmere, Brutus, Ash and Autumn jump off their pedestals and are reaching the small cliff.

"We need the others." I say as Ash and Autumn start climbing up the cliff. I know Cashmere and Brutus are nearby. We look at the pedestals to see where Peeta, Posy, Mags and Marco are. I find Peeta confused on what's going on. I start to remove my knives to get him but Finnick stops me.

"I'll go and get him. You can't go in your condition." Finnick says. I forgot I'm supposed to be pregnant. He drops he's weapons to the ground.

"Cover me." Finnick says and jumps from the cliff and into the water in a fabulous dive. Brutus and Cashmere reach the top of the cliff as Ash and Autumn run off. I shoot an arrow at Brutus and he falls off (but I didn't kill him). I shoot at Cashmere and she falls but holds on to the edge and pushes herself up again and runs off. I notice a scowl on her face. Finnick reaches Peeta's pedestal and he jumps into the water. I hear another splash and its Mags. She jumps into the water with Daisha, Philomena and Zayden following. Brutus climbs back up and now that the Carrers have reunited, they grab a bunch of weapons and prepare to attack. Finnick and Peeta reach the small cliff and I help then both up.

"Hello again." Says Peeta and gives me a kiss. "We have allies!"

"Yeah!" I say.

"Is there anybody else?" Peeta asks.

"Yes." Finnick answers. "Mags, Marco and that little one of yours."

"You mean Posy." I say.

"Yeah." Finnick says.

"I saw Mags jumping earlier but I don't see her now." I say.

"There." Says Peeta pointing at Mags. She's almost close to the cliff. The 3 others are still making their way. We hear 4 more splashes. Samara, Quinn, Seeder and River. Finnick helps Mags up the cliff.

"Where still missing Marco and Posy." I say. Mags points at two pedestals. They both jump into the water and Marco carries Posy through the water. They reach the cliff in less than a minute.

"I'll get them." Peeta says. Peeta pulls Posy up like she doesn't weight a thing; and Marco pulls himself. We're all soaking wet. Mags, Marco, Posy and Peeta go get weapons. More Tributes jump off their pedestals and reach the cliff. This is gold for the Carrers when they reach the Cornucopia. They start fighting and killing one another. They get out of their quickly but Marco gets in a fight with Zayden and Aaron; leaving Zayden dead. And Aaron with a scar in he's face. All the other Tributes jump off the pedestals. Paige's body still floats in the waves. Almost half the water is filled with her blood. Daisha reaches the small cliff and pulls Philomena up with River following.

"We need to go." Says Marco when he reaches us again. The bloodbath has started. Bodies of Tributes lie in the Cornucopia. I hand another knife to Posy, the awl to Mags and another sword to Peeta. Marco carries an axe and a knife. We run off the Cornucopia hearing the clangs of metal of the swords behind us. I worry if the other girl made it out; Philomena. She's the second youngest Tribute. Philomena is the only 14 year old and Posy's going to turn 13 tomorrow. I realize that this isn't the woods, but a jungle. The trees have soft trunks and the earth is very black and spongy. The trees are maples. I remember how to tell them apart for going to the 'identifying edible plants and insects'. I didn't spend much time there so who knows if there's a whole infirmary here. The sun is hot and bright and the air's warm and heavy. I get the feeling we won't be dry, at all, in this arena. Peeta takes the lead, cutting vines out of the way with he's sword. Finnick goes second with Mags. I go behind them with Posy and Marco follows. We walk like a mile and when Peeta suggest we rest our feet we all fall to the ground. Posy climbs up a tree and cuts a small 'Y' shaped branch and makes herself a slingshot but doesn't come down. I climb another tree to see how things are in the Cornucopia.

"What do you see?" Finnick asks me. It's a complete mess there.

"Dead bodies, blood, weapons, Carrer's are still fighting with others." I answer.

"When do they pick those that are gone?" asks Posy. I know she means dead.

"When their no Tributes in sight." I answer.

"Who do you think are dead?" Peeta asks.

"I can't tell but I think a few." I say.

"I say that there has to be at least 6 dead." Finnick says.

"Maybe." I say getting down from the tree. "Let's go. We need freshwater to find and drink." Posy gets down from the tree and we move on. There's no sign of a pond, river, stream, waterfall or lake.

"Where could the water be?!" Finnick asks annoyed.

"The more you talk the more dehydrated you'll get." Posy answers him.

"How do you know? And you're talking right now." Finnick says.

"I know because it has happened to me before and I'm answering you."

"It wasn't a question."

"I mean I was warning you."

"I don't need to be warned."

"If you wouldn't be warned the more dehydrated you'd be."

"You're also dehydrated."

"Because I'm answering."

"Then stop it."

"You stop it."

"You are so annoying."

"So is your face."

"That doesn't make sense."

"So does your face."

"Will you two just shut up?" Marco asks.

"She started it."

"I did not."

"Yes you did."

"Will you two just shut up? You sound like little kids."

"Correction. I am a little kid." Posy says.

"Right. Then you shut up, Finnick." Marco says.

"Whatever." Finnick says. I start to laugh.

"Hey, Marco. Ask Katniss to shut up."

"Alright, I'm sorry." I say trying not to laugh. We walk a few more miles and then we hear a cannon fire. We stop to listen and the Gamemakers fire a total of 9. That means 9 Tributes are dead and 27 of us are still alive.

"I guess the bloodbath is over." Marco says. We stay there in silence. A beeping sound of a parachute breaks the silence. It lands up in a branch.

"Is it for us?" Finnick asks.

"It has to be. I don't think there would be another Tribute wondering close to us." Peeta answers. I climb the tree and open the parachute. Inside is a small metal object that looks familiar but I can't remember what. We pass it around but nobody knows what it is.

"Can you fish with it?" I ask Mags when it reaches her hands. She shakes her head and passes it to Posy.

"Maybe it's a weapon." Posy suggests as she passes it to Peeta.

"Yes, Posy. That stick thing could be used to kill someone." Finnick says sarcastic.

"Maybe it can."

"Oh yeah. How?"

"Maybe there's a button."

"How can there be a button in that thing?"

"I don't know."

"Then why do you say it?"

"You asked me." They both start to argue.

"Shut up! Shut it forever!" Marco yells.

"Are you ok, Marco?" Peeta asks him.

"I can't take these two fighting! It's driving me nuts!"

"Could you be more annoying?" Finnick asks Posy.  
"Oh, are we pointing out flaws now? 'Cause I have a whole list if you want me to read it." Posy says.

"I don't see a list."

"Ever heard of a brain?"

"Stop it you two." I say.

"I have no idea what this thing is." Peeta says passing it to me again.

"If we would've hook up with Beetee, Wiress and Winter they'd help us." I say. I'm frustrated. I don't remember what this thing is, Finnick and Posy keep arguing and Marco won't get them to shut up. Mags and Peeta are the only ones being quite. I throw the thing to the ground and the sunset light hits it. I didn't even notice it was starting to get dark. I sit in a rock and watch the thing from a distance.

"Mobile, aisle, pile, style, while, file, spile. . ." I whisper. I shriek in excitement.

"What is it?" Peeta asks me.

"I know what that is!" I say excited.

"What is it?" Finnick asks.

"It's a splie!" I say excited.

"A what?" Finnick asks.

"A spile is a spout for conducting sap from a sugar maple." I say.

"Sap?" Marco asks.

"It's used to make syrup." Posy says.

"There's got to be something else inside these trees." Peeta says staring at a tree. I pick up the spile and clean it.

"Ok, but how do we know what's inside these trees?" Finnick asks.

"We need to make a hole on a maple tree so the spile will fit in." I say.

"I'll make the hole." Marco says. He grabs Mags's awl and he and Peeta start making a hole in a maple tree. Once the hole is done I put the spile in it. I twist the knob on top of the spile and drops of water start to fall. When I twist it more, it's like a tiny waterfall. I coop my hands under it and fill my hand with water and drink up. We all drink water until our thirst disappear. We also clean ourselves from all the sweat.

"What we need now is food." Finnick says.

"I'll go hunting." I say picking up my bow.

"No, Katniss." Peeta says. "You can't go by yourself."

"I won't take long." I say.

"I'll go with her, if you want." Marco says.

"I can go with her." Peeta says.

"Peeta, I'm going to need your help building this camp." Finnick says.

"Ok." Peeta says to Finnick. "You can go with her Marco."

"Wait. We're camping here?" I ask.

"Yes. Is that ok?" Finnick asks me.

"Yeah." I say. I walk over to Mags.

"Mags, will you entertain Posy so she and Finnick won't argue again." I whisper to her. Mags nods and I smile. Me and Marco leave to go hunting. He takes a sword with him; for protection. We go through the jungle and try to find something but there's nothing.

"There's nothing here." I say giving up after a while.

"I won't be too sure about that." Marco says. I turn around to face him. He stares up at a tree.

"What are you-" I start but I cut myself up when I see it. It's a huge animal up in the tree. Like a raccoon or some huge rat.

"What is that?" Marco asks me in a hushed voice. The thing stares at us. I point my arrow at it and shoot. We walk over to it and kneel beside it. I pull the arrow out if its eye.

"Do you think it's safe to eat?" Marco asks me.

"I don't see why not." I say. I touch the thing carefully to feel its meat. "Its meat doesn't seem as different as a squirrel's." Marco picks it up and we go back to our camp. Finnick and Peeta build a small fire and made grass beds. Mags keeps Posy entertained by teaching her to make fishhooks. Apparently Posy can understand her perfectly. I wonder how. When I talked to Mags in the Training Center I couldn't understand half of what she was saying.

"What is that?" Finnick asks Marco when he notices what he has on he's hands.

"Dinner." He answers.

"What kind of animal is that?" Finnick asks.

"I think I'll name it a tree rat." I say. I explain to him how we found it and everything.

"Is it safe?" he asks.

"Yes." I answer. I notice that Peeta isn't here.

"Where's Peeta?" I ask.

"Went to drink water." Finnick says.

"You can start cooking that, Marco. I'm going to find Peeta." I say. I drop my bow and arrows on the ground and go looking for Peeta.

"Peeta?" I say. I hear no respond.

"Peeta?" I yell. I start to worry.

"Peeta where are you?" I say louder. I start to panic. Something must've happened. The sunset starts to get purple. It's getting dark and without light I won't be able to find him.

"Peeta!" I yell. There's still no response. I have no weapon with me and if I get caught by another Tribute I'm dead; I am in the middle of the jungle. I run through the jungle yelling for Peeta. I find a body lying on the floor. I walk closer and the person is unconscious, not dead. I walk closer and my heart stops. . . It's Peeta.


	13. Chapter 13

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 13:

Katniss's POV:

"Peeta!" I yell when I see him. I kneel beside him and start shaking him a little. He doesn't wake up. I check he's neck pulse and I don't feel it.

"FINNICK!" I scream. I scream over and over again so he'll here me. Finnick finds me and brought he's trident with him.

"What is it?!" he yells in panic.

"Peeta!" I yell in panic. He throws he's trident to the ground and kneels besides Peeta. He checks Peeta's pulse like I did. Finnick quickly starts CPR. I remember my mother did it once with a miner and managed to save he's life. Peeta starts to breath and he's eyelashes flutter open. He groans.

"Are you ok?" I ask Peeta. I now notice that I'm crying.

"What happened?" He asks me.

"You fainted." Finnick answers.

"I did?" Peeta asks.

"What's your name and last name?" I ask him. Confusion may occur after a person has been unconscious.

"Peeta Mellark." Peeta answers.

"How old are you?"

"17."

"Where are we?"

"A jungle." Peeta answers. I sigh in relief.

"My head hurts and I think I have a sprang ankle." Peeta says with a groan and rubbing his head.

"Headache. You'll be like that for a while." Finnick tells him. I pull down Peeta's socks and notice he's ankle is swollen.

"He has a swollen ankle." I say. The sky gets darker.

"We need to go." I then say drying my tears. Finnick nods and we both take Peeta's arms and lift him up slowly and then grab the spile. I glance back at where Peeta was lying and notice that there's a force field. Peeta must've run into it. We arrive to the camp and see the others started dining. Me and Finnick lay Peeta against a rock and give him some 'tree rat' meat. We explain to the others what happened from when I arrived.

"How can you just pass out, Peeta?" Marco asks him. Peeta shrugs.

"It could've just been low blood sugar." Finnick suggests.

"Or maybe you hit your head on something." I say.

"You think he would just run into a tree." Finnick says sarcastic.

"No. But there was a force field. Maybe he just didn't see it." I say. Everyone looks at me curious except Posy.

"How do you know there was a force field there?" Finnick asks.

"I heard it." I say.

"You can hear them?" Marco asks. Posy looks at me like I'm crazy. She was with me when Beetee, Wiress and Winter taught me to see force fields. I give Posy one of those 'Go a long with it" looks and she gets it.

"If you hear real close you can hear them." Posy says. That feeling you get when someone joins you in a lie.

"Then I guess you're going to have to go first all the time for protection." Finnick says. I nod. I didn't actually see that coming. We hear the anthem start up in the sky. We look up and the Capitol symbol lights up the sky like the moon. The hologram video if the fallen is about to start. They start in order. They show the picture of the fallen with their District under them.

THE FALLEN: District 5 male (Eli), District 6 male (Rashaan), District 8 male and female (Cecilia and Woof), District 9 (Paige, Uillliam and Zayden), District 10 female (Adeline) and District 11 female (Seeder).

I feel bad for some of them who died in the bloodbath. Cecilia has 3 kids at home, Adeline I liked and Seeder was one of the people I wanted as ally but didn't found in the Cornucopia. I was too late. At least I know that there are only 11 Targets left. After dinner I take first shift of watch as everyone sleeps. I sit in the rock where I lied down Peeta and I sat figuring out what the spile was. In about an hour I hear what seems to be the tolling of a bell. I counted twelve. Finnick wakes up quickly and grabs he's trident.

"You heard that?" he asks me.

"Sounded like a bell." I say.

"More like a clock." Finnick says. "How many did you heard?"

"I counted twelve." I answer. Finnick gets up and starts searching around for someone or something. I grab my bow and arrows and start doing the same. When I'm about to sit back down I see fog starting to form. I freeze in shock.

"Finnick," I sputter "You better take a look at this." Finnick runs where I stand and he freezes at the sight of the fog. We stay there for a minute and when I notice it's getting larger and making its way towards us I snap back to reality.

"What are you waiting for?!" I yell. "We need to get out of here!" Finnick snaps back to reality and starts waking the others. Marco and Peeta wake up fast but Mags and Posy stay asleep.

"WE NEED TO GET OF HERE!" Finnick screams at them. Marco starts grabbing some weapons and Finnick picks up Mags and swings her over his shoulder and runs off. I start grabbing my weapons also and I hear a scream. Posy just woke up.

"RUN!" I scream at her but she's totally frozen.

"Come on!" I see Marco yell at her but she doesn't move. He picks her up and carries her in piggy back. I help Peeta up and we start to run with Finnick in the lead with Mags. The fog gets closer. Me and Peeta are left behind. I try to hurry but I can't because of Peeta's ankle. I have two choices here. The first choice is to leave Peeta here and he dies and I live. The second choice is to stay with him and hope the odds are in our favor. The fog starts getting taller like a ten feet wall. Finnick and Marco stop for us.

"COME ON!" screams Finnick.

"HURRY!" screams Marco at us.

"Step where I step." I say to Peeta as the fog gets closer and inches taller. It helps a little. We seem to move faster. Peeta's leg gets caught in creepers and I notice carnivorous plants around us. I help him up and my heart stops with terror. The left side of Peeta's face has sagged down. Like all the muscles in that side just died. Peeta puts his hand on that side to hold it up but it's no use. As I help Peeta up I feel a sting on my arm. My arm starts jerking at my side.

"GET OUT OF THERE, KATNISS!" screams Finnick at me. I quickly hurry up and we are back on our feet. When I catch up with them the fog starts catching us. We run and run and now Finnicks's arms start jerking all around and he almost drops Mags. Marco picks up he's trident. When I trip over a rock and my leg starts to jerk, is when we come to a halt.

"I can't help Peeta anymore," I say. "Can you carry him, Finnick?"

"No. I lost control of my arms also. I can't carry them both." Finnick says trying to put Mags down carefully.

"Marco?" I ask. He's arm starts to jerk uncontrollably. He puts Posy down.

"No. I'm sorry." He says. Somehow he reminds me of Thresh. A sweet giant. He is six feet tall. Few inches taller than Finnick. They all stand there and Peeta helps me up. I stare into he's eyes and he to mine.

"I guess this is how faith wants it." Peeta says. I can't imagine how the crowd is; at the edge of their seats. Mags turns around and faces Finnick. She plants a kiss on him and when she makes her way to the fog Posy catches her arm.

"No, Mags!" Posy yells. "Don't do it! There's got to be some other way! I won't let you! Please. . ." Mags stares at Posy's eyes filled with tears. I few drops fall. Mags takes a small object from her pocket and drops it into Posy's fist. Posy closes her fist around the object and Mags gives her a kiss on the cheek. Mags frees herself from Posy's grip and walks straight into the fog. Her whole body starts to jerk uncontrollably.

"NOOO! ! !" screams Posy.

"MAAAGS! ! !" screams Finnick as Mags body falls forward. A cannon fires and now we know Mags dead. They both stare in shock and their eyes fill with tears.

"We need to go, Finnick!" I yell grabbing his arm and pushing back but he won't move.

"Posy, come on!" yells Marco. But she also doesn't move.

"Finnick!" I yell as the fog gets closer. "If we don't move we're all going to die! Is that what you want?! She gave up herself so you can save yourself and now you're going to let yourself die?!" Finnick turns around and his face is filled with tears. He grabs Peeta and swings him over his shoulder and runs off.

"Posy?!" yells Marco. She doesn't move. He picks her up and swings her over he's shoulder. Posy starts to scream and cry at the same time. When I went hunting with Marco I guess I didn't realize how close Mags and Posy got. We run again and after, like, 10 minutes the fog disappears. We drop into the floor. Twenty-six of us are left. Marco puts Posy down and Finnick puts Peeta down. We stay quiet with only Posy and Finnick's whimpers slipping out from their mouths.

"Finnick?" Posy asks crying. Finnick looks at her and gives her a side hug. I feel relieved that for once they are not arguing; but I feel bad that they've lost someone they cared about. Especially Finnick, he was with her the longest. Marco has tears in his eyes but they don't fall.

"I'm sorry." I say to the both of them. We hear a beeping sound of a parachute. Marco goes to claim it; a chance for him to wipe away he's tears. He comes back with an ointment that sponsors just send us.

"It came with this." says Marco hanging me a note. It reads:

"Apply delicately." –H.

The 'H' stands for 'Haymitch'. I'm guessing is for our jerking arms. Only Posy and Peeta are the ones ok. I start rubbing the ointment on my arm and I relax instantly. The soft, smooth cream brings control to my arm again. I pass the ointment to Marco. Finnick and Posy still hug each other with their faces filled with sorrow; it reminds me of Rue's family. I notice Posy's fist is stilled closed with the object inside. I wish I could ask what it is but I don't think I should at this sort of time. When Marco is done with the ointment he passes it to Finnick.

"I'll go hunting for some food" I say.

"No. You stay here. I'll go." Posy says.

"Are you sure?" I ask. Posy nods and takes off with her slingshot.

"I'll search for a maple tree and make a hole for water." says Peeta. I sit in the ground and wait for Posy to come back.

Posy's POV:

I jump through logs and splash on water. I climb up tree to see if their fruits but nothing. I just walk through the jungle thinking. What happened with the fog was insane. I felt like I knew Mags as a close friend and now she's gone. I saw death with my own eyes. Right now, I don't care if I'm found. Up in the sky I see smoke. I walk closer to it and I find the Tributes of 1 and 2. I peek behind a tree and listen.

"Who are we going after tomorrow?" I hear Enobaria ask Brutus.

"Well, I think we should finish up with District 6 and go after Posy and Philomena." Brutus answers. My heart stops. They're going to hunt me down.

"That's going to be hard." Autumn starts. "Posy is with her District and 4, and Philomena is with Daisha and I believe River."

"So what?" asks Ash. "We'll just sneak up and kill'em all."

"Are you kidding? They are all full with weapons. They'll kill one of us." Autumn says.

"We have weapons also, Autumn." says Cashmere.

"Are we talking about Philomena and Daisha or the other one?" Brutus asks.

"Both. I saw them run off with a lot weapons." Gloss answers.

"So are we killing or what?" Enobaria asks.

"We'll hunt District 6 down and then go after both of them and finish up with the allies they have." Ash says. I gasp and turn around and accidently snap a branch. I put a hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming.

"What was that?" Autumn asks.

"I think there's someone around here." Cashmere says.

"We'll go and check." says Brutus. I hear three of them standing up and grabbing weapons. I start to walk slowly with my hand still covering my mouth. If I make one sound I'm dead; literally. I step on another branch and it snaps. I panic.

"Over there." I hear Gloss say. I start to run in and I step on more branches. I look to my right and I catch Brutus's eyes.

"There!" he yells and they run after me. I trip over a log and cut my hand. Brutus, Gloss and Ash surround me. This is it. The crowd must be nuts to see what will happen.

"Well, well, well. . . isn't little cutie face." says Ash taking out he's sword. I stay quite.

"Do you know what this is?" Ash asks me. I nod.

"Do you know what's used for?" Ash asks me. I nod.

"Do you know what happens now?" he asks me.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can't hurt me." I say.

"Brave. That's what they all show before I see the light leave their eyes." Ash says almost in a whisper. "Enjoy your last few seconds." My heart beats fast. Gloss takes an arrow and points at me; he shoots but I jump out of the way and start to run until Ash grabs me and holds me tight in his arms.

"SHOOT HER!" screams Ash as I try to wrestle my way out. Gloss points his arrow at me but I bite Ash's forearm real tight until I see his skin red as blood. Ash screams in pain and I wrestle my way out. Ash kicks me in the stomach and all my air comes out. I choke for air and when I get it I scream in pain as I lie in the floor. Gloss picks me up by the neck line of my shirt and I kick him in he's stomach like Ash did to me. I get punched, kicked and I try to do the same to them. I dodge at punches and jump at kicks but I only miss a few. I scream for Katniss but I think I went too far out that she can't even hear me. I get beat up and I know I have a broken rib or something.

"Monkeys?!" yells Brutus. I bite Gloss's forearm like I did to Ash and he slaps me before I can make it serious. I fall to the ground and feel blood falling down like drool. I know I got a cut lip. I run off but Ash, which lies in the floor on his stomach, grabs me by the ankle and I trip.

"You are not going anywhere!" Ash says. He tightens his hand on my ankle and I scream in pain. I see the monkeys are lunging at Gloss and Brutus. They kill them off with their weapons. I see a huge monkey that opens he's mouth revealing the longest fangs. The monkey's shriek leaves my ears ringing. I see the monkey lung over to me and Ash. I scream and cover myself with my arms. The fangs of the monkey buries on Ash's back. He screams and he's grip loosens. I know those monkeys are filled with poison. I let myself go and run away limping.

"I'm going to kill you sooner or later!" Brutus shouts at me as I run away. I hear a cannon fire and I know it must be Ash's. As I run screaming for Katniss I trip on a rock and fall to the ground and get a new scrape on my arm, next to my bruises. I turn myself over and see three more monkeys. They make that high-pitch shriek again and I cover my ears. Tears start to splash on my clothes. The monkeys reveal those large fangs and as the monkey on my right lunges at me I quickly pick up my slingshot and shot it down with a rock. I pick up another rock and shoot the one on my left as it lunges towards me. I take a big rock quickly and shoot the one in the middle as it lunges at me also. The monkey falls to the ground only inches away from me. Blood falls from the monkey's fang. I breathe heavily. My ankle hurts as much as my cut lip does.

"KATNISS!" I scream again. My ankle is on fire when I get up and start to run again. I feel it burning with pain and I feel lightheaded. I scream for Katniss over and over again. I fall a couple of times because of the lightheadness. I start to see black dots in my vision.

"POSY!" I hear Katniss scream. I follow the sound of her voice and the sight of her gives me hope.

"Katniss!" I yell. I start running to her but I feel myself fall and everything goes dark.

Katniss's POV:

"Posy!" I shriek. I run over to her and kneel besides her.

"Posy? Posy can you hear me?" I say. I turn her over to her back and put my ear on her chest to hear her heart beat. I feel relieved when I hear her heart beat. Posy's was attacked by someone or something. Her ankle is bruised. I hear strange sounds and I know I need to get out of here. I pick Posy up like she's a baby and run off to where the others are. When I get to the where the others are I carefully lie her down with the help of Finnick.

"What happened to her?" Marco asks.

"I don't know. I heard her screams when I went looking for her and when we found each other she just passed out." I answer.

"She seems pretty beat up." Finnick says. Finnick puts his ear on her chest like I did.

"Her heart beat isn't as strong as it should be." Finnick says. He places his hand on her forehead and then on her cheek. After that, Finnick hears her breathing. He looks like a doctor. Finnick starts CPR on her and then Posy wakes up and her eyes flutter open. Posy breathes heavily.

"What happened?" she asks. I take her hand.

"You were close to the door of death." Finnick answers.

"What?"

"You had fever, sweating, your heart rate wasn't normal and you were wheezing." Finnick says. "Did someone are something kick you in your stomach or rib?"

"Yes." Posy answers breathing heavily.

"What happened out there, Posy?" I ask her.

"I'll go get some water." Says Peeta and takes the spile.

"Get some moss, Marco." Finnick instructs.

"Well, I found the group of Carrers and I was hearing what they were saying. They said they were coming after me and Philomena." Posy says. Marco comes back with moss and Finnick gives it to Posy so the blood from her cut lip will absorb. Posy explains everything that happened.

"How did these, um, monkeys, look like?" Finnick asks her.

"They kind of look like—" Posy's eyes pop out terrified. "Like that!" says Posy pointing up at a tree. A group of monkeys stare down at us. One monkey opens its mouth and reveals huge fangs. The monkey shrieks and lunges forward. Posy screams. We all jump out of the way and I grab Posy. The monkey crashes into the ground and Marco kills it with his sword. I see the two other monkeys stare at their target. It's Peeta.

"PEETA!" I scream. Peeta turns around and sees the monkey. He freezes at the sight of it.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" I scream at him. When the monkey lunges at him and I know this is Peeta's end, a see Samara jump right in front of him. The monkey's fangs bury on her chest. Samara falls to her knees.

"MAKE IT STOP!" screams Posy covering her eyes. Marco grabs a sword and starts stabbing the monkey on its back. I pick up my bow and arrows and shoot at the monkey; but it won't release. Posy picks up her slingshot and shoots rocks at it. The monkeys stop and they all start to retreat; like there's a voice inside their heads that controls them. The monkey that had its fangs bury on Samara's chest swings from vine to vine and then just disappears. Samara lies in the ground. We all run over to her. I see her wound; two big holes on her chest that are way too deep and can't be saved. Peeta kneels beside her and taker her hand.

"Thank you for saving me." Says Peeta softly. Samara holds Peeta's hand tight.

"You know. I've always liked to paint sunsets. There's something about them that touches my heart every time. I wrote a poem about them.

'Just beyond the sunset  
Someone waits for me  
Just beyond the sunset  
Lies my destiny  
Where the purple mountains  
Lie in deep tranquility  
There I'll find the treasure  
Of love eternally

Just beyond the sunset  
Waits someone so fair  
Just beyond the sunset  
All alone they wait there  
Their hair is golden  
The color of the sand  
Their eyes sparkle in the night  
Like diamonds in your hand

Just beyond the sunset  
Lies a home for me  
Where the world is peaceful  
Like a paradise should be  
Just beyond the sunset  
Someday is where you'll find me  
my heart every time.'

I have also thought about painting rainbows, but they disappear so fast. After summer's rain, God's promise is remembered glorious rainbow." Peeta says gently. Samara's eyes fill with tears. I see she forces a smile for Peeta.

"Thank You. That was beautiful." Says Samara. Her breathing slows down and a cannon fires; Samara's dead. Peeta places both of her hands, forming an 'X' over her chest and then puts a small red jungle flower on her hair. Peeta leaves a kiss on her cheek and we go back to the others.

"Everything ok?" Marco asks Peeta.

"Yeah. We need to go; they won't pick her up if we don't leave." Peeta says. We grab our things and move on. I carry Posy in piggy ride all the way to the beach. After an hour we hear three more cannons fire. Three tributes just died.

"You guys get some sleep." Finnick says. "I'll keep watch."

"That's ok, Finnick, I can keep watch." I say.

"No. You sleep. I'm not tired." Finnick says. I stare into his eyes and notice he's holding back tears. Mags. I could at least give him a private moment so he'll say his official goodbye.

"Ok, Finnick." I say. "Thanks." I set Posy down and I end up falling asleep next to Peeta. I wake up and see Finnick has already made breakfast. With the net he got at the Cornucopia, he fished out fishes. Marco sits next to him eating some fish. The smell of food makes my stomach growl. I get up and sit down next to Finnick. I see Finnick also fished out some shellfish.

"They're better fresh." Finnick says. He's eyes are puffy but I pretend not to notice. Finnick takes another shellfish and tries to open it.

"He's been crying all night." Marco mouths at me.

"Really?" I mouth back. Marco nods. He and Mags must've been so close; I'm afraid to ask. I remember, today's Posy's birthday. We hear a beeping sound of a parachute land where we are. Posy wakes up startled.

"It's ok. It's just a parachute." I say. Posy sighs relived. I go to claim it and inside it's a loaf of bread. There's a note inside the parachute.

"Happy Birthday, Posy!" –From District 12.

"It's for you." I say to Posy.

"It is?" Posy asks standing up and walking over to me half-limping. She grabs the notes and reads it. A smile breaks into her face.

"I can't believe I forgot about my birthday." Says Posy happily.

"Happy Birthday!" I say and plant a kiss on her head. Posy smiles at me.

"Do you think this loaf will be enough for everyone?" Posy asks.

"That's ok, Posy. It's yours." I say.

"It's a present and I want to share it." Posy says.

"Then I guess that'll be enough for everyone." I say. We sit down next to Finnick again and start cutting the loaf.

"I should wake Peeta." I say getting up.

"Wait." Says Finnick getting up. "Let's put our faces together and wake him off." I know he needs some laughter after crying all night. I agree and we carefully make our way to Peeta. We squeeze our faces together with only our noses a few inches away from he's.

"Peeta. . ." I say and softly shake him a little. I give it a few tries. When he wakes up, he screams at the sight of us and we all fall backwards and laugh.

"What was that for?" Peeta asks as we all laugh.

"That was to wake you up." Finnick answers.

"For what?" asks Peeta.

"So you'll eat the loaf we got." I answer.

"Loaf?"

"A present for Posy from 12." I say.

"Oh yeah. Happy Birthday, Posy." Peeta says.

"Thanks." Posy answers calming down from the laughter. We finish the loaf in 10 minutes and safe some shellfish and fish for later. We hear a cannon fire. Someone has died. Fourteen are dead and twenty-two of us are still alive. We've been in the arena for a day. We see the hovercraft pick the body up. It's male but I can't tell who. We grab all of our stuff and walk through the beach. In a distance I see three small figures.

"Look," I say. I nod at the direction of the three figures. Peeta, Finnick, Marco and Posy follow my gaze. As we walk closer I see the three figures are Johanna, Beetee and Wiress.

"Johanna!" yells out Finnick and runs to her.

"Finnick!" calls back Johanna. Marco follows Finnick. I exchange looks with Peeta and Posy.

"We can't really leave Finnick alone." Says Peeta. I sigh heavily.

"Let's go." I say. As we get closer to where Finnick and Johanna are meeting up I wonder how Johanna got allied with Beetee and Wiress. They're all covered in dry blood.

"How do you think she got allied with Beetee and Wiress?" I ask Peeta.

"Nuts and Volts? I don't know. I'm wondering where their target is." Peeta answers. We get closer and listen to what Johanna says.

"We were so thirsty and as we were walking we thought it was going to rain because of the lighting but instead of water it was hot thick blood! You couldn't speak because the blood would leave your mouth full of it and you also couldn't see. We were trying to get out of it and that's when Blight, Skylar and Winter hit the force field. We knew they were dead when we heard the cannons fire." Johanna says.

"I'm sorry." Finnick says.

"Yeah. Now I'm alone with these two." says Johanna. She nudges at Beetee, who lies on the sand barely conscience and Wiress circles around him murmuring "Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock. . ."

"We get it, Wiress. Tick, Tock; you are cuckoo. . ." says Johanna.

"We better get going." Says Finnick. "Come with us." Johanna agrees. If we were to choose our allies like that, Johanna would be one of my lasts. Peeta and Marco help Beetee up and me and Posy grab Wiress. We go back to our camp and spend all they day helping Johanna, Beetee and Wiress clean themselves up from the dry blood. Sunset starts to set in the sky and me and Peeta sit on the edge of the beach, the waves crash on us as we clean Beetee. We have to scrub hard and clean he's clothes. Me and Peeta stay quiet and I can't take it so I bring up the pressure of the promise I made to Gale about Posy. I realize it was a mistake when a voice behind me sounds surprise.

"What?" Posy asks me. I turn around and I know she heard every single word I said. "You promised Gale you'd keep me alive until I was long alive for my family to receive a feast?"

"Yes." I answer.

"And after that what were you going to do with me?" Posy asks. I can tell she's getting mad and just wants answers.

"I was going to keep you until something would happen." I answer.

"What do you mean 'something would happen'?" Posy asks.

"You. . . um. . . go. . ." I answer. I see tears starting to fill her eyes.

"I can't believe you, Katniss." Says Posy and turns around. I grab her by her arm and she turns around again.

"Do you think I wanted it this way?!" I yell. Everyone stares at us.

"Of course not, but I thought you would do something." Says Posy.

"Like last year?! If I do that again you know they kill my family!" I yell.

"Don't you think I know that?!" yells Posy. "I'm tired of being the person that figures things last and they think I can't take care of myself!" Posy loosens her arm from my grip and runs into the jungle.

"Posy!" I yell but she just keeps on running.

"What just happened?" Peeta asks.

"Come on, we have to go and find her." I say. We pull Beetee to dry sand.

"You guys stay here." I say as I grab my bow and arrows and Peeta grabs his sword.

"Duh!" says Johanna. Me and Peeta run into the jungle. The sunset gets purple. I'm desperate to find her before its too late.

Posy's POV:

All these feelings are surfacing. After running I drop to the ground and cry. A snap of a branch stops me from crying. I'm terrified that it's the monkeys again and I didn't bring my slingshot with me. It's not the monkeys, but Brutus who comes out.

"Hello again." Says Brutus coldly. I stay quite; not because I don't want to speak but because I'm paralyzed with fear.

"Remember me?" Brutus asks me. I don't answer. Should I answer? "You killed my brother, so you know what comes now." Before I can react, Brutus grabs me by my shirt and pulls me up into the air and covers my mouth before I scream for Katniss. He pushes me to a tree and then removes his hand but still holds me.

"I didn't kill your brother, the monkeys did." I say.

"And whose fault is that?!" yells Brutus. He punches me in the stomach hard and I fall to the ground when he lets me go. I scream and before I can react he kicks me and I lie in my back. Brutus holds himself on top of me and pulls out his knife. He's about to stab it in my heart but I manage to move my hand and keep the knife inches away from my heart. I put all the strength I have left in keeping that knife away. Brutus gains strength and I quickly move my other hand and both our strengths are balanced. Brutus knife flies away from his hand. He goes to claim and I try to make a run for it but my stomach hurts. He punched the air out of me. I start to crawl as fast as I can but he grabs me by my good ankle and pulls me to where I was. I hold on to the ground but he's too strong. I scream for Katniss and I hear her scream my name and asks me where I am but every time Brutus punches and kicks me all I can do is scream. More scrapes start to appear and bruises also. Blood drops from my arm and legs. I start to cry and scream. My whole body burns. Finally, Brutus picks me up by my shirt and lifts me into the air. There's a huge rock behind us and I know this is it. I thank God for everything he did for me and tell my family I love them, in my mind. Brutus stares at my eyes as the tears stream down my face.

"Please. . ." I whisper weakly. Brutus hesitates but those what he wanted. He pulls me up and slams me into the rock and everything goes dark and I feel myself fall.

Katniss's POV: (few minutes before)

I scream for Posy over and over again. I follow the sound of her voice. I tell Peeta we have to split up and we do. I hear her screams and I know she's been attack at this very moment. I run through the jungle trying to reach her. I hear one last scream and everything goes quiet. I hear a cannon fire and I start to panic.

"Katniss I found her!" I hear Peeta shout; not so far away. I run as fast as I can and I find Peeta. Posy lies in his lap and Peeta holds a bunch of moss on her head that bleeds. My heart stops on what Peeta tells me.

"She's dead, Katniss. . ."

be


	14. Chapter 14

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 14:

Katniss's POV:

I cry next to Posy. I hold Posy's hand tight in between my hands. Peeta manages to stop the bleeding from her head and even though she's gone we tight it up with moss just in case. I wonder how the crowd is, her family, Prim. . . I know they are not taking this easy. Peeta leaves me alone so I'll say my goodbyes to Posy. He leaves a kiss on her cheek and goes away. Parts of Posy's hair filled with blood, pale faced with the redness of her lips has disappeared, her body lies motionless on the ground and those innocent eyes never to open again. She'll never see another sunset or those millions of stars in the sky. Posy will never grow up and know what true love is, she won't finish her education and her little laugh will never be heard again. The powerful smile that made people happy in an instant will be missing and it's sad that the world won't know about her or share her friendship. I get up and just walk around her body. My tears fall on my cheek and slide down as I stare at Posy. I don't know what to say. Her family and Prim would want me to say something.

"Posy, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry, for everything. I'm sorry this happened to you. I wasn't the best guardian and I'm sorry." I say crying; but there's more I have to say. "You brought that smile to everyone's faces and made those little funny jokes that with one mistake of mine, nobody will hear your sweet voice. You meant so much to everyone you knew." I pause. I kneel besides her. The mistake was keeping the secret I made to Gale from her; she got mad and now she's gone. On her pocket, I notice a small object inside and I take it out. It's a golden fishhook. This must've been the object Mags dropped in her hand before she died. I hold it on my hand so I'll give it to Finnick. I know Posy would want me to give it to him. I stroke Posy's face, almost as cold as ice is her face.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean for anything like this to happen." I whisper. "I love you." I give her a kiss on the cheek and I notice something around her neck shining as the moonlight hits it. I pick it up in my hand and know this must be the token Posy chose to go into the arena. It's an old golden locket. I open it and see a picture of Posy's family and her father. I smile at the sight of it. I put it inside her shirt and leave; the hovercraft will come to take her body away. I meet Peeta halfway and arrive to where the others are. They stare at us with curiosity.

"Where's Posy?" asks Finnick. "We heard a cannon and got worried." I ignore Finnick and just sit alone in a rock still crying.

"She's dead." Peeta answers. I feel the pain in my heart.

"What?" asks Finnick surprised. "How?"

"She was attacked by someone or something and slammed into a rock." Answers Peeta. Everyone stays quiet.

"When I told her to shut up forever, I didn't think it happened for real." Marco says sadly. There's a pause between us again. Rue's the reason why I went on the arena last year, Posy's the reason why I'll keep going in this arena and Prim is the reason why I live. The hologram video of the latest fallen starts up in the sky.

THE FALLEN: District 2 Target (Ash), District 3 Target (Winter), District 6 female (Samara), District 7 male and Target (Blight, Skylar), District 10 Target (Quinn) and District 12 Target (Posy).

18 are dead and 16 of us are still alive. We got to sleep and I fall asleep next to Peeta and Marco keeps watch. My dream with Rue continues again. I start with where I left off. Rue backs up from the tree trunk and by my surprise Posy comes out. They both smile at each other.

"Posy?!" I my voice echoes happily. She grins at me. Rue takes her hand and they stay like that for a minute looking at each other's eyes; like they can read each other's thoughts. They look back at me and smile. They grab me by my arms and start running with me by their side. We arrive to the woods; the woods from last year of the arena. I'm in the waterfall that connects into a river with the sky blue. We just play their and their laughs and smiles make me happy. Out of nowhere, we hear thunder and the sky gets dark. Their smiles fade from their faces. Marvel comes out and shoots a spear at Rue. The same thing as last year. Then, someone appears and slams Posy into a rock. I couldn't see their face. Marvel and that someone then stand feet away as I hold Rue and Posy in my arms. Small drops of rains start to fall and the sky rumbles and lighting struck into trees. It gets harder and Rue and Posy's heartbeat stop. They both die. Marvel and that someone just stare.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! THEY'RE DEAD!" I scream at them. Marvel turns around and disappears and then that someone disappears also. I start to cry and in a few minutes Rue and Posy disappear. All of them were ghost. I don't get the dream. Every dream is message and I don't get this message; that's if it's a message.

Gale's POV: (Posy's death)

The crowd gasps in shock. My ears fill with tears as I see Posy being attack and Katniss just screams for her. Brutus slams her into a rock and my heart stops, a cannon fires and she's dead. I see Peeta arrive and tries to stop the bleeding of my sister's head. Hate and sorrow goes through me and I start to cry as I shove people out of my way. I run through the Seam and catch my mother crying and hugging Vick and Rory. I run inside the woods and kick rocks, punch trees and kick the dirt until all my energy runs out. I drop into the ground and just cry. My little sister is dead. The little girl that I took out to the woods, the girl that my mother let me carry the day she was born, the girl I took to school and spend almost all my life with, is dead. It's the worst feeling ever. I don't know what to do. Posy was just a little girl. Prim must feel horrible. Maybe Posy was right, Prim does need her sister more than her, but that cost her, her life. I go to a lake in the woods and just throw rocks into the water and see them jump. When it's dark I go back home to face my family. I hug my mother tight and her face soaks in tears. This has affected my family and has changed our family's lives forever.

Katniss's POV: (after the nightmare)

I try to go to sleep again but the dream haunts me. I hear a voice close to me. It's Wiress. She woke up and starts to murmur "Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock. . ." Marco turns around and sees us both awake. I notice tears in his face. Either he's still a bit sad about Mags or he's crying because of Posy's death.

"What's wrong?" Marco asks.

"Just Wiress." I answer. Wiress quickly crawls to me and repeats her words.

"Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock!" says Wiress even more desperately. I lie her down in my lap and try to make her go to sleep.

"I know, Wiress. Just go to sleep." I whisper but she keeps murmuring to me "Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock." Wiress falls asleep saying those short words.

"Is she asleep?" asks Marco. I nod and he turns around. Wiress words repeat in my head and then I start to think of it. I remember the twelve bongs from last night like it was midnight and then lighting and there was the fog. Then there came the blood rain where Johanna, Wiress and Beetee survived. Me, Peeta, Finnick and Marco would've been in the third section next to the blood rain and then the monkeys appeared at the next section. When me, Peeta, Marco and Finnick were walking around the beach for about an hour and found Johanna, Beetee and Wiress, we must've missed something that happened in that station at the beach. Wiress words repeat again in my head "Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock. . ." I notice the edge of the beach; a straight circle. Now I realize it.

"Now I get it. Tick, Tock" I whisper. "This arena is a clock."

Doctor's POV: (after Posy's death)

Me and my partner go down the hovercraft to pick up the dead body of the Target of District 12. When I check her pulse my heart stops. With the Bluetooth in my ear I contact Plutarch Heavensbee as fast as I can.

"Yes, Dr. Flanders?" Plutarch says.

"We have a problem." I say.

"What's wrong?" my partner mouths at me but I ignore her.

"What is it?" Plutarch asks.

"The Target of District 12, Posy Hawthorne. . . is alive."


	15. Chapter 15

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 15:

Posy's POV: (morning)

I wake up and my vision is blurry and my head spins. When everything comes to place I try to get up slowly. My head hurts so much. I clutch my wound and I feel moss attached to it. I take it off and dry blood is revealed. I walk around looking for Katniss, but I don't remember the way. I must've hit my head so hard that I had a memory loss and that frightens me. My stomach growls for food. When I walk further, I find bushes with all sorts of fruits. I walk to a bush with berries and see the blood red berry juice inside. I throw it away remembering that sort of berry is nightlock. I pick out an apple; as I'm about to bite it, a knife comes shooting and lands in a tree's trunk with the apple in the middle. I stare at it in awed.

"Who's there?" I ask loudly. A thin girl with chicken legs, three feet long dark red hair, paled faced and big beautiful dark brown eyes comes out. I know her as the District 5 Target, fourteen year old, Philomena.

"That apple is poisonous." Says Philomena.

"What?" I ask.

"Unless you eat the seeds." Continues Philomena. "Like cherries and other fruits, they contain cyanogenic glycosides causing cyanide. Seeds from one apple will not likely cause an effect but people have eaten enough to die from it."

"Why didn't you just let me die?" I ask.

"Because I want you as ally." Says Philomena. I'm surprised.

"You do?" I ask. "What happened to the allies you had?"

"You mean Daisha and River? They died saving me after we were attacked by the Carrers when they killed off Aaron." Philomena answers. "And you need help."

"I'm fine." I answer.

"Just come with me. I can help you." Says Philomena and grabs my hand. We walk miles in silence. I wonder how she made it all the way to where I was.

"You walked this long?" I ask Philomena.

"I was already around this area searching for food. I heard your screams last night but I was too late. I went down to check on you when the doctors left." Philomena says. "I was surprised when I heard them say you were alive, so I waited for you to wake up."

"Why did you wait?" I ask her.

"Because I wanted you as ally since the beginning. I've been alone since they killed Daisha and River. The Carrers are after me ever since they gave themselves up to save me."

"Are they after me?" I ask worried.

"Not at this point. As soon as they find out you are alive they'll be after you." Philomena answers.

"But didn't the Gamemakers announce that I was alive?"

"No. I heard Plutarch say to the doctors to just leave you there." Philomena says.

"Will they kill my family as punishment?" I ask even more worried.

"I don't know." Philomena says. I really hope not. How can I live? We arrive to her little camp that's located at a large field and there's a big rock. I see all the food she has.

"Where did you get all the food?" I ask amazed.

"I stole them." Philomena answers, preparing some food for me.

"Stole them from what?" I ask.

"Is actually a who. I stole from the Carrers." Philomena says. I'm stunned.

"You stole from the Carrers?" I ask in almost a hushed voice.

"Yeah. Why?" Philomena says.

"They could've killed you." I say.

"It was easy. They don't pay attention to the things you should be taking care of." Philomena responds. "I don't even think they have noticed." She hands me the food and I dig in.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" Philomena asks me.

"Not much, I guess." I answer.

"Do you remember who did that to you?" Philomena asks me. I shake my head.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Feeling myself fall and hitting my head on something really hard." I say. "Someone threw me. Someone male."

"Do you remember who you came into the arena with?"

"Catnip and Peter?" I say.

"Katniss and Peeta, you mean." Philomena corrects me.

"Right, yeah, them. . ." I say as I finish my food.

"You're bleeding again." Philomena says. She goes into the jungle and comes back with moss.

"Thank You." I say as she starts attaching it to my wound. "How come almost everybody know that moss can absorb blood?"

"Almost everybody spend some time in the 'identifying edible pants and insects' station at Training. I went there every single day." Philomena says finishing attaching the moss.

"Will I be ok?" I ask.

"Yeah. The wound is bad but not that serious that you'll need some surgery or something." says Philomena.

"How am I alive?" I ask Philomena.

"Have you heard of catalepsy?" Philomena asks me. I shake my head. "Catalepsy is the state where the victim seems dead but it's really alive. I learned it in health class; the muscles can't be bend, the breathing is weak, and the heartbeat of the heart can't be heard or felt." says Philomena. I'm stunned to how smart she is. The beeping of a parachute starts again. It lands feet away from us and Philomena goes to claim it.

"My mentor, Barbara, send us some bandages." Says Philomena. She takes off the moss and puts the bandages around my head.

"Thanks again." I say.

"You're Welcome. Get some rest." Philomena says. "I'll keep watch." I nod and fall asleep as fast as a feather falls from the sky and into the ground.

Katniss's POV:

Morning comes. I tell the others that the arena is a clock and explain to them everything. Once they get it, Wiress relaxes entirely. As I say it out loud, I remember that Plutarch showed me his mockingjay watch at the Capitol feast in Victor's Tour. He was giving me a clue on what the arena was going to be.

"Wire. . ." says Beetee coming to conscience.

"She's right over there." Says Peeta pointing at Wiress. Beetee shakes his head.

"Wire." Says Beetee desperately.

"I'm telling you she's over there." Says Peeta louder.

"I know what he wants." Says Johanna impatiently. She picks up the wire that Beetee had in his hands when we found them and gives it to him.

"Watch out for where you plug that thing, Volts." Says Finnick.

"That's just something he got the chance to take in the Cornucopia." Johanna says.

"He did win the Games with a wire. I guess that's the most powerful weapon for him." Says Peeta.

"Why don't we go to the Cornucopia and make sure we are right about the clock thing." Says Finnick. We all nod in agreement. We walk to the Cornucopia but Wiress walks in the opposite direction.

"No. Not that way, this way." Says Marco getting her. Marco steers her to the Cornucopia and Finnick and Peeta carry Beetee; me and Johanna carry the weapons. Finnick and Peeta lie down Beetee against the edge of the Cornucopia. We give out the weapons and then Finnick looks around.

"Wiress," calls out Beetee. Wiress starts twirling around and Marco steers her to Beetee.

"Will you clean this?" Beetee asks her and she nods. Wiress takes off into the wrong direction and Marco, again, steers her to the water. They both clean the wire together.

"Hickory Dickory dock,  
The mouse ran up the clock,  
The clock struck one  
The mouse ran down,  
Hickory Dickory dock.

Hickory Dickory dock,  
The mouse ran up the clock,  
The clock struck two  
And down he flew,  
Hickory Dickory dock.

Hickory Dickory dock,  
The mouse ran up the clock,  
The clock struck three  
And he did flee,  
Hickory Dickory dock.

Hickory Dickory dock,  
The mouse ran up the clock,  
The clock struck four,  
He hit the floor,  
Hickory Dickory dock.

Hickory Dickory dock,  
The mouse ran up the clock,  
The clock struck five,  
The mouse took a dive,  
Hickory Dickory dock.

Hickory Dickory dock,  
The mouse ran up the clock,  
The clock struck six,  
That mouse, he split,  
Hickory Dickory dock.

Hickory Dickory dock,  
the mouse ran up the clock,  
the clock struck seven,  
8, 9, 10, 11,  
Hickory Dickory dock.

Hickory Dickory dock,  
the mouse ran up the clock,  
as twelve bells rang,  
the mousie sprang,  
Hickory Dickory dock.

Hickory Dickory dock,  
"Why scamper?" asked the clock,  
"You scare me so  
I have to go!  
Hickory Dickory dock." Sing Wiress over and over again.

"Oh, not that song again." Johanna says rolling her eyes.

"I think she's not going to stop singing unless something happens. Like a canary." I say.

"That song went on hours before she started tick tock-ing" says Johanna "and what's a canary?"

"A canary is a bird we take down to the mines to see if there's bad air. They sing and if there singing stops than that means there's bad air. Sometimes they die." I say.

"That's ridiculous." Says Johanna.

"She must be really smart." Says Peeta about Wiress.

"She is actually intuitive." Says Beetee coming back to life. "She senses things nobody else can sense like the canary Katniss was talking about." Peeta sits down and starts drawing something in a big leaf.

"Here." Says Peeta handing me a map of the arena that he drew. Peeta drew a perfect circle and divided it into twelve spaces and wrote the numbers from one to twelve and what we witnessed so far. Twelve to one is the fog; one to two is the monkeys and then the blood rain. Everything else is blank. Everything is quite. Everything is quite! Wiress has stopped singing. I grab my bow and arrows and when I turn around I see Gloss letting go of Wiress and dropping her to the ground. Gloss has cut her throat open. Marco lies in the floor with a knife on his abdomen. Two cannons fire and everyone turns around and see Wiress and Marco dead. All the Carrers and their new ally, Meadow, are here and I know they are going to attack. Johanna starts with throwing her ax and making it land on Cashmere's chest and a cannon fires. Enobaria and Autumn throw spears at Finnick and Peeta. If the Cornucopia wouldn't be here, they wouldn't be able to cover themselves. Me and Peeta help carry Beetee as Finnick tries to strangle Autumn but Meadow attacks him from the back; and Johanna takes Enobaria and Brutus. Gloss kneels besides Cashmere, his sister. He gets up and starts making his way to me. I let Peeta take Beetee and I shoot an arrow at Gloss; it lands on his chest and another cannon fires. The image of Marvel's death comes in my mind. I see his body fall to the ground just like Marvel's did now. I snap back to reality. Johanna buries a knife on Enobaria's thigh and she falls to the ground and Finnick strangles Autumn to death. Brutus picks up Enobaria and just runs off. Meadow follows. Meadow takes Enobaria with her and Brutus stops.

"Hey, Katniss!" shouts Brutus at me. "I hope you are not mad at me for killing your little Target!" My heart stops. Brutus is the one that killed her. I shoot an arrow at him but it lands on a tree's trunk. I run after him as Brutus takes off laughing.

"No, Katniss!" shouts Finnick. He grabs me and I try to wrestle my way out. Peeta tries to grab me but I start kicking and shouting at them to let me go. I manage to get out and run into the jungle. I follow Brutus's laugh as it echos. I hear Finnick screaming for me. I hear a scream, a little girl's scream. Someone familiar. Finnick catches up behind me.

"Katniss—"starts Finnick but at the sound of the girl screaming I take off again. I run wildly at the direction of the voice ripping out vines and branches that are in my way. Finnick follows behind me and tries to stop me but nothing will stop me from reaching her. From reaching Prim.

Peeta's POV:

Katniss runs off into the jungle and Finnick follows.

"Where's Beetee?" asks Johanna. We both look around but I spot him swimming after Wiress that the waves have carried away.

"There!" I yell at Johanna and point out to the sea.

"I'll get him!" yells Johanna. I'm glad she decided to get him because I don't know how to swim. I see the hovercraft starting to arrive and is about to take Wiress as Johanna jumps into the water and swims as fast as she can. She passes Beetee and arrives next to Wiress. She pulls the wire out of her fingers as a claw reaches out for Wiress. Johanna swims away and Wiress is gone. Beetee and Johanna arrive back to shore and we throw Marco, Cashmere, Gloss and Autumn's bodies into the water. Their bodies float and the water fills with blood. The claw picks them up and they are gone. Johanna hands the wire to Beetee and we go looking for Katniss and Finnick. We find them but when we can't reach them because there's an invisible wall keeping us apart. It's not a force field. Me and Katniss stare into each other's eyes. I put my hand against the wall and Katniss does the same.

"It'll be ok." I say but I don't think she heard me. Johanna tries to break down the wall with an ax but it doesn't work. Katniss and Finnick drop to their knees and cover the ears and after a few minutes they fall unconscious. Johanna and I punch the wall knowing that'll take an hour. Beetee stays down clutching his wire. When the wall disappears I check Katniss's pulse, Johanna does the same to Finnick. We carry them to the beach and lie them down. As we make our way to the beach we see jabberjays retreating and then just disappear. The jabberjays must've made sounds that drove them crazy. I rock Katniss back and forward gently when we arrive to our camp. Katniss then wakes up.

"It's all right Katniss." I say softly.

"You didn't hear them." says Katniss.

"It was just jabberjays. I saw them." I say.

"Prim's dead." Katniss says.

"That's just what they want you to think." I answer. "Katniss, what happens at the final eight?" I ask her.

"Seven more die and then there's the same fuss." I say.

"I mean back home." I say.

"Oh, they interview your friends and families." Katniss answers. I lift her chin so we'll have eye contact.

"Exactly. And how do you think they're going to interview your family if Prim isn't there?" I ask.

"Ok, but where do you think they got her scream?" Katniss asks me.

"They could've taken it from an interview or something and distorted the sound. It's not even that hard, Katniss." Answers Beetee. I see Katniss relaxes a little.

"Do you believe that, Finnick?" Katniss ask him. He wakes up a little.

"I guess." Finnick answers.

"Who were you hearing?" Katniss asks him.

"Annie." Answers Finnick. Must be Annie Cresta.

"I'm getting water." Says Johanna grabbing a shell and the spiel. Katniss grabs her hand quickly as she passes.

"Don't go there! I know there's something next. . ." says Katniss.

"They can't hurt me. There's no one else I love alive." Says Johanna and let's herself go from Katniss's grip.

"Who did you hear back there other than Prim?" I ask Katniss.

"Gale, Vick, Rory, Hazelle and my mother." Katniss says. I take the map of the arena from my pocket and on the five to six section I write 'JJ' for Jabberjay. Three to four is still blanked. We hear a cannon fire and see a body being picked up in pieces. I add to the seven to eight section 'beast'. After a few minutes the anthem starts again as Johanna comes back.

THE FALLEN: District 1 (Cashmere, Gloss, Autumn), District 4 Target (Marco), District 5 (Daisha), District 8 Target (Meadow) and District 11 Target (River).

I look around at us and realize that all of them have lost their Targets and partners. Me and Katniss only lost Posy but we still have each other.

"Who's still alive other than us five?" Finnick asks.

"District 2." Answers Beetee.

"Chaff." I say.

"And Philomena." Katniss says.

"A total of 9 right?" Finnick asks. Katniss nods. A parachute comes down to us beeping. Johanna goes to claim it and comes back with a bag filled with square shaped rolls.

"These are from your District right, Beetee?" Finnick asks him when Johanna sets it down.

"Yep." Answers Beetee.

"How many are there?" I ask.

"Twenty-four. I counted." Answers Johanna.

"Let's divide them." Katniss says.

"They'll be four left." Beetee says.

"Then whoever is alive gets to eat them." Says Johanna and we dig in. They are actually pretty good. I decide to stay up in guard and nobody hesitates. I put Katniss to bed and whisper to her.

"You are going to be a great mother." And give her a kiss. The crowd must've been wondering about the baby. I sit on a rock as the others sleep and think of everything ever since I arrived to the arena and think of what's happening back home. Day comes again and I decide to go and find food before the others wake up.

Posy's POV: (yesterday)

After waking up from my nap, me and Philomena become real friends. I learned so much about her. Philomena is the smartest girl in her school; she's been an orphan all her life along with her fraternal twin. Philomena is only two minutes older than her fraternal twin named, Philana. Philomena's name means 'A lover of Song' and she writes poems; and her sister and she sometimes write songs together. I tell Philomena all about me also. We become real friends in an instant, but then I remember what will happen when I hear cannons fire.

"This is crazy." I say.

"What is?" Philomena asks me.

"We were sent here to die but instead we're becoming so close to each other." I say.

"You're right." Says Philomena. "We'll let faith takes its course." I nod. We go hunting for food for almost an hour around 10pm and then go to sleep later on. I wake up with Philomena singing a little lullaby as she stares at the sunset.

"I am the power  
Below my bower  
Are decided  
The bullet's shower  
I am the power  
If you are rebel

But are capable  
I would help you  
Like the crow's pebble  
I am the power  
If you are weak

My help is bleak  
Let you not shriek  
Due to oppression  
I am the power

All kinds of "cracies"  
Are my policies  
Brutal use of power  
Are my legacies  
I am the power

All organizations  
Are in collaboration  
Always abet me  
In all possible fashion  
I am the power

Poor are exploited  
Rich are invited  
For attaining coffers  
Looted from the blighted  
I am the power

My ostensible fights  
For the all human right  
Are my devices  
That help me flight  
I am the power" sings Philomena.

"That's pretty." I say.

"Thank you. Is the lullaby of my District. Not the best one." Philomena says.

"Well, you have a beautiful voice." I say.

"Thank You. Now come on." Says Philomena getting up and offers me a hand.

"Where are we going?" I ask taking her hand.

"To get some food from the Carrers." Answers Philomena taking her knife.

"What?" I ask terrified. I know she means by stealing from them. "I'm not going."

"You'll be ok, I've done it before many times." Says Philomena. "Just follow my lead."

"I don't know. What if we get caught?" I ask.

"We'll be ok. Just follow me." Philomena says. I make another slingshot for myself, since I lost my other one, and we take off. I get nervous every time I take a step closer. Philomena seems to know the way perfectly.

"Where did you have the idea of stealing food from the Carrers?" I ask Philomena.

"Well, I'm not a hunter so I got the idea from, as you know her, Foxface." Philomena answers. I remember who Foxface is; she made it to the Top 8 but died by eating nightlock.

"Foxface. I remember her. She was so smart." I say.

"Yeah. Her real name is, Phoenix, and she was my cousin." Philomena says.

"She is?" I ask surprised.

"We weren't that close but she was family." Philomena says.

"I didn't know her name was Phoenix." I say.

"Ever seen Katniss gave her that nickname people started calling her that. Citizens in the Capitol couldn't say her name or something so they called her, Phyllis." Philomena says. "The name means "foliage" in Greek. In Greek mythology, that was the name of a woman who killed herself out of love for Demophon and was subsequently transformed into an almond tree. It began to be used as a given name in England in the 16th century, though it was often confused with 'Felicia'. In the interview, I thought Caesar said 'Finch'."

"I didn't hear it." I say.

"They cut it out fast by mistake." Philomena says.

"She was really smart. She could've won." I say.

"Until she made that mistake." Philomena says upset.

"Do you believe in God?" I ask Philomena.

"No." answers Philomena.

"What?! You have to! It says on the bible that if you don't believe in God or you've been really bad, he'll send you downstairs with the bad guy." I say.

"I believe on what it says on the bible but not that. God doesn't do that. He has to be paying more attention on running the world, not on what people do and act." Says Philomena. I'm so in shocked.

"Did Fox- Phoenix lived with you on the orphanage?" I ask changing the subject.

"No. She had her own family; she was a lonely child. No brother or sisters, nor pet, no friends and her father died of cancer." Philomena responds.

"That's sad. Why didn't her mother adopt you and your sister?" I ask.

"She didn't have the money, plus, it would have been extra mouths to feed. Even if she had the money for only one of us, I would not go anywhere without my sister. The child is given the right to decide if they want to live with that person." Philomena says.

"True." I say. We arrive close to where the Carrers are. Enobaria keeps watch and she has a bandage all over her leg.

"What happened to her?" I whisper to Philomena.

"Who knows." She whispers back. "The good thing is that she won't be able to defend herself. Follow my lead." I follow close behind. "Do as I do." Philomena walks slowly to a pile of boxes and bags filled with food. She grabs what she desires and comes back.

"See, that simple. Just grab what you want and come back." Philomena whispers to me. I nod and walk slowly to the pile of food. Philomena was right; they don't pay attention to the thing that's most important. I look around and I know I need to hurry up. When Brutus seems he's about to wake up, I step back and freeze.

"Hurry!" whispers Philomena desperately. I take food without even knowing what it is. I walk faster without making any sound and take off just as Brutus woke up.

"That was a close one." Philomena says.

"I am never doing that again." I say.

"It was just a one-time thing. We'll be ok next time." Philomena says.

"I hope so." I say. We go back to our camp and eat the food we got. We tell each other jokes and stories that have happened to us. I forget we are here to die. We become so close that when one of us dies it'll be a pain. Out of nowhere Brutus comes out with a knife.

"You're alive?!" asks Brutus surprise to me.

"You did that to me?" I ask him.

"Looks like someone had a memory loss." Says Brutus coldly.

"What are you doing here?" asks Philomena to Brutus.

"I think someone doesn't remember the words." Says Brutus. Philomena hesitates and tightens her hand on her knife. I remember Philomena told me that Brutus was after her.

"You want to fight me? Fight me. . ." says Brutus coldly.

"I know you don't like to fight." Says Philomena.

"Just because I don't like to fight, doesn't mean I can't." says Brutus.

"Still think I can't fight?" asks Philomena coldly.

"Let's see how much you've learned. " Says Brutus and lunges forward at Philomena. I fall backwards and watch everything. Brutus tries to stab the knife on Philomena's heart but she tries to keep it away; just like I did before.

"GET OUT OF HERE, POSY!" screams Philomena at me. She takes her hand and leaves a scratch on Brutus's face. Philomena moves just in time to see the knife bury on the ground.

"I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!" I scream at her as she tries wrestles her way out.

"JUST GO!" Philomena screams at me. I grab my slingshot and run off into the jungle. After a few minutes, and I know they are still fighting, I hear a scream and someone calling out for me.

"POSY! POSY HELP!" I hear Philomena scream.

"PHILOMENA?!" I scream back.

"HELP!" I hear her scream. The screams echo through the area. When I pull the vines out of the way, I see as Brutus buries the knife in her stomach.


	16. Chapter 16

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 16:

Posy's POV:

"PHILOMENA!" I scream. Brutus pulls the knife out from her stomach and Philomena clutches her wound; that from my sight, she can't be saved. I catch Philomena's eyes as Brutus runs away. Philomena falls to her knees and I run as fast as I can over to her and I lay her against the big rock and I start to cry.

"Don't cry. . ." says Philomena as her tears fall down.

"I'm going to get some moss." I say fast as I get up.

"No don't go!" says Philomena panicking grabbing my arm.

"Ok, I'm not going anywhere." I say sitting back down.

"Will you give this to my sister?" says Philomena crying. She reaches to her pocket and drops a small beautiful old key.

"I will. I promise." I say. I wonder what for. I will try to win and get this key to her sister. Philomena grabs my hand and holds on tightly.

"Don't leave me. . ." I say crying.

"When you miss me, just look up to the night sky and remember, I'm like a star; sometimes you can't see me but I'm always there." Philomena says almost breathing through every word. I nod. We're both crying and I know that in a few, Philomena will die. Blood starts to drip from her mouth.

"Thanks for being my friend." Philomena sputters.

"You're Welcome." I say crying. "I love you. I'll never forget you."

"I love you too. I won't forget." Sputters Philomena and she takes her last hoof of breath and her strength loosens. Philomena's eyes close and her last breath escapes. A cannon fires and I know Philomena is dead. I start to cry more now. Someone puts a hand on my shoulder and I turn around alerted. Peeta stands there. I get up and hug him tight and he does the same. I still cry my heart out.

"She's gone." I sputter.

"It'll be ok." Peeta says.

"No it won't." I say.

"Come with me." Peeta says taking me away.

"Wait!" I say in panic. I know Philomena's sister is watching and I need to do something, for her sister. I lie Philomena down on the ground and from the jungle, I pick out beautiful red, yellow and blue flowers with the help of Peeta. I take the small ones and make a crown crossing her forehead. I take the big ones and make a posy and put her hands on top of her wound with the posy. I give her a kiss on the cheek and giver her my last goodbye, with the three fingers salute. I then leave with Peeta. We walk miles.

"Are you ok?" Peeta asks.

"I don't feel like being happy. It was all sucked out of me." I say. Tears still fall but I don't make a sound.

"Being sad is a total waste of time. It doesn't change anything. All it does is mess up your mind and steal your happiness. Philomena wouldn't want you to be like this." says Peeta.

"I guess you're right." I say drying my tears with my hand.

"I thought you died." says Peeta. "We all did."

"I was a victim of catalepsy." I answer.

"I forgot about that sort of thing." Peeta says. I stare down at my feet and tears start to fall again. Peeta stops and kneels in front of me. He gives me another tight hug and I let my sadness slip out again.

"She was my friend." I say crying. "How would you feel if you lost a good friend? Take Katniss for instance."

"She won't die." Peeta says.

"Love is a gamble, Peeta. You take a chance, you let your heart go, like a dice, and you never know the result, until the end." I say.

"If me and Katniss weren't meant to be together, we wouldn't." Peeta says. "Don't be sad."

"I'm trying real hard, but I just can't change the feelings I have, Peeta." I say.

"If I could do something, I would." Peeta says letting go. I give him a small grin as I dry my tears again.

"Where are we going?" I ask him.

"Back to the camp. I went looking for food but I think Katniss should be the one to do that." Peeta says. A laugh escapes my lips but I quickly shut myself.

"See, you're already starting to get happy." Peeta says.

"That doesn't count." I say. "You made a joke, how can I not laugh at it?"

"By not laughing." Peeta says. "Come on, we're almost there." We walk a mile more and we arrive to the camp where I see everyone awake and worried.

"Stay here." Says Peeta to me and I nod. I stay behind a thick tree and wait for Peeta to tell me to come out.

Peeta's POV:

I walk to the others and they seem worried.

"Where were you?" asks Katniss to me.

"We were worried someone killed you off when we heard a cannon fire." Finnick says.

"To say the truth, they were worried." says Johanna pointing at Katniss and Finnick.

"You scared me." Says Katniss and gives me a hug.

"I'm sorry." I say. "I went looking for food." Katniss lets go in confusion.

"You did?" asks Katniss.

"I found something else instead." I say.

"Something else?" asks Finnick.

"Someone actually." I say. "Someone you two be thrilled to see."

"Who?" asks Finnick. Katniss stares at me in confusion.

"You can come out." I say staring at the tree where Posy is. They all follow my gaze and Posy peeks out from the tree like Rue did when Katniss found her. She slowly makes her way next to me and Katniss and Finnick stare in shock. Posy's eyes are puffy and look bright gray.

"Hi." says Posy nervously. Katniss pulls her into a tight hug and her eyes fill with tears.

"I'm so happy you're alive!" says Katniss. "It's been awhile since I've seen your face, yet I still find it hard to erase." Posy grins.

"I thought I never see light again," says Posy. "But I guess we were both wrong." I laugh escapes from Katniss. She pulls away and stares into Posy's eyes.

"I'm sorry about what I said. I should have told you about the promise the moment I saw you." Katniss says.

"What are you talking about?" Posy asks her.

"Don't you remember?" Katniss asks her. Posy shakes her head.

"What's the last thing you remember since you woke up?" Katniss asks her.

"A pain in my head." Posy answers clutching her wound.

"Memory loss." whispers Katniss to herself. Posy stares at me in confusion. I give her a grin.

"That's ok." Katniss says and gives her another hug.

"Do you remember me?" Finnick asks Posy. Katniss lets go and Posy walks over to Finnick.

"I think you may be. . . Finnegan?" Posy says. Finnick smiles and he kneels down in front of Posy.

"It's Finnick, but close enough though." says Finnick with a smile on his face. "Welcome back." And he gives her a hug.

"Thank You." says Posy.

"I didn't think you'd come back." says Finnick. "When I lost Mags, I didn't think I lose you; and then I lost Marco."

"Faith just wasn't ready to let me go." Posy says.

"Thank You for finding her." says Katniss to me and gives me a hug.

"You're welcome." I say letting go.

"I don't get it." says Johanna. "Isn't she supposed to be dead? It isn't fair." Posy lets go of Finnick and turns around and faces Johanna.

"You can say that now; but maybe one day, I'll be what you need." says Posy softly.

"Yeah, sure. You can think that, little one." says Johanna.

"Who are you, if I can ask" Posy asks.

"I'm your nightmare. Johanna." says Johanna. Posy stares at her with curiosity. A parachute just arrives with twenty-four more square shaped rolls from District 3. We divide them again and the ones that were left from yesterday we give them to Posy and save the ones that were left today. After eating all of our rolls, Katniss takes me into the water and teaches me to swim while Beetee plays with his wire; I know he's making a plan to kill Brutus, Enobaria and Chaff. Only nine of us are left. Johanna stays at shore sharpening her ax with a rock and Finnick and Posy stay all day talking and making vine nets and fishhooks. Finnick tries to make a golden fishhook like the one he has on his hand. The one that belonged to Mags.

"I think we should run away." Katniss says under her breath.

"Run away where?" I ask.

"Run away somewhere." says Katniss. "We're one down from the top eight. They're going to kill us sooner or later." I nod.

"Tell you what," I start. "Let's wait until Brutus and Enobaria die. Chaff could be anywhere, and Beetee, I think, he's working on a plan to kill them. Once they are dead we can go along with Posy." Katniss nods. I can tell something's bothering her.

"What's wrong?" I ask her.

"Nothing." Katniss answers.

"You can trust me." I say to Katniss.

"It's just so much pressure." Katniss says.

"What is?" I ask.

"Only one of us gets to live and Posy can't just die "again", it'll be so much pain, and that includes if you die." Katniss says. "I just don't know what to do. What if I mess up with our child if you die?"

"Keep in mind that I will never judge you for any of your imperfections. They simply make me love you even more." I say softly. "You're going to be a great mom with or without help from me or anyone." Katniss smiles.

"How is Posy alive?" Katniss asks me.

"Ever heard of catalepsy?" I ask.

"I remember what it is but it hasn't happened in years." says Katniss.

"Well, it happened now." I say. Betee calls us all to discuss his plans.

"I know we all agree that we'll go after Brutus first since we know he's going after Posy. He'll be an easy target." says Beetee.

"Aren't you worried he figured out about the arena being a clock?" Katniss asks Beetee.

"What?" Posy asks surprised. "This place is a clock?" Katniss explains her everything and we both show her the map.

"I guess when we went hunting for food we took an hour and missed the attack on the section we were in." Posy says. I know by 'we' she means Philomena and her.

"Guess so; and good thing you did." says Katniss.

"So anyway," says Johanna cutting them both off. "Get back to this plan of yours, Volts."

"So here's the plan," starts Beetee. On the sand he draws a circle and divides into twelve wedges. "The safest place in the arena is here on the beach and if Brutus and Enobaria knew the arena is a clock then they would be here; but since they can't, because is occupied by us, they would be at the edge of the jungle where they can get food and spy on us. So, I propose that we run my wire from the lighting tree all the way into the saltwater that connects with a force field up ahead, and at midnight, when the lighting strucks the tree, they'll be enough power for the person in this section to be electrocuted." We all pause to think about it and let it sink in. When it does, I find it fascinated.

"I say we do it." I say.

"Won't the wire burn with all that power?" asks Johanna not convinced.

"Oh, it will. But it will still work." Beetee says.

"How do you know?" asks Johanna.

"Because I invented it." says Beetee. "It'll do anything I say, don't worry."

"Where will we go when it all happens?" asks Finnick.

"Far up in the jungle where it'll be safe." says Beetee.

"What about the food?" asks Finnick.

"There's food in the jungle," I say. "Remember the tree rat?"

"Oh right." says Finnick.

"Then I guess it's settled." Says Beetee happily. "This plan is going to take all your efforts."

"But if it doesn't work?" Johanna asks still not convinced.

"If it doesn't work then there's no harm. We just killed their food source." says Katniss.

"Katniss's right." I say.

"I agree." says Posy.

"All right." says Johanna finally agreeing. "But just because is easier than hunting them down, anyway."

"What do you say, Finnick?" Katniss asks him.

"I say we do it." Finnick says. Beetee smiles.

"Good. I would like to inspect the lighting tree before we hook up the wire." Beetee says. We all nod and grab our weapons and head to the lighting tree. When we arrive to the lighting tree, by the color of the sky it must be 10am and we see a huge wave, like a tsunami, washing all over the beach in the section we were in.

"Now we know what happens at the ten to eleven section." says Finnick. I write it down on the map and tuck it in on my pocket.

"If it's a wave, that means that'll be more power." says Beetee.

"Doesn't that mean the wire will burn quicker?" asks Johanna annoyed.

"No, it means they'll be more power." says Beetee. Finnick and Posy go tap a tree for water, me and Johanna help Beetee inspect the tree and Katniss goes hunting. After an hour, we start hearing ticking sounds but not like Wiress was doing before. Beetee starts inspecting the tree and the area carefully as the ticking sounds get louder and we see things flying around us and landing on us.

"Of course." says Beetee as me and Posy slap away an insect that has landed on our shoulders. Johanna does the same on her leg.

"This section we're in are insects." says Beetee as Katniss returns with three tree rats. "Carnivorous beetles or something with pincers."

"It might eat our flesh." says Johanna.

"We should get out of here. There's less than an hour for the lighting to start." says Finnick as insects start to jump around on us. We run out of there and into the blood-rain section where we eat our jungle food. When the lighting starts, we all watch and see Beetee examine every single detail to prepare the wire. We then go to back to the beach where we fish our last sea food with the nets that Finnick and Posy made. We fish out fish and shellfish. Finnick and Katniss dive in for oysters while Johanna keeps watch and Beetee works on the plan. Me and Posy wait for them both to come back up with the oysters. When we drag the bag with all the food, I happen to find a beautiful bright pearl. I hold it in my hands as the sunlight hits it and shines brighter.

"For you." I say with a smile as I hand it to Katniss. She smiles at the sight of it.

"Thank You." says Katniss still smiling. I smile also. A parachute arrives again, with twenty-four more square shaped rolls but with spicy red sauce. We divide them again and let Posy eat the ones that were left from the last parachute. Night comes again and only one face is up in the sky on the hologram video.

THE FALLEN: District 5 Target (Philomena)

Posy quickly looks away as a tear falls down into the sand. Finnick puts an arm around her. Posy just wipes away her tears and doesn't speak. Finnick whispers something on her ear but I couldn't hear.

"We should go." says Johanna when it's almost nine to ten. The wave is going to start. We leave and then we wait an hour until half the insects clear out. Beetee and I hook up the wire around the tree.

Katniss's POV:

"We need to find Brutus, Enobaria and Chaff to and lead them to the beach section." says Beetee. "You and Johanna can take the left side and Finnick and Posy can take the right side. Peeta will stay with me." We all nod in agreement.

"When you come back, don't come through the lighting zone." warns Beetee to us. I give a hug goodbye to Peeta and Posy.

"Don't leave me." Posy whispers in my ear as I hug her.

"I won't, I promise." I whisper back. Me and Johanna grab our weapons and take off as Finnick and Posy take off to the other sections. We walk for what feels like hours. We stay in complete silence keeping our eyes wide open for Brutus, Enobaria and Chaff. I'm worried for all of us; Chaff, Brutus and Enobaria could be anywhere and can kill any of us easly. After an hour of walking I feel the sharpest pain in the back of my head, where my temple is located. I open my eyes and I'm lying on the floor. I feel weight throw itself on top of me. All the strength of my body is gone and my vision is blurry and out of focus. I feel a stab on my left forearm and I feel something digging something out. I feel soft liquid dripping out and the pain is horrible. I feel a small object coming out of my forearm.

"There." I hear Johanna say. "Stay down." And she closes my eyes. I'm left in complete darkness and confusion. I hear a cannon fire and my heart beats fast; it's getting hard for me to breath. I worry that the cannon that just fired might've marked Peeta or Posy's death. Two heavy footsteps start to approach.

"She's dead, Enobaria!" says Brutus. "Let's go!" I hear the footsteps echo away. I'm dead? Everything is so confusing and I still don't have the strength to get up or anything.

Posy's POV: (a few hours ago)

I hug Peeta and Katniss goodbye and then me and Finnick leave to the other direction. We walk in silence for an hour.

"Do you like Johanna?" Finnick asks me by breaking the silence.

"I don't trust people very easily; so when I tell you that I trust you, please don't make me regret it." I say. Finnick smiles at me.

"I won't make you regret it." Finnick says. We walk miles and keep our eyes open. After a few minutes, Finnick stops.

"Can you go on?" Finnick asks. "I'll catch up."

"What's wrong?" I ask him. Finnick stares around and now I remember, we're in the place where we both lost Mags. I see his eyes already filling themselves with tears.

"I'll catch up." says Finnick again. I nod and go on. I walk miles alone filled with fear and worried. I then hear a cannon fire and I get alerted real fast. I beg in my mind for Finnick to be here.

"Finnick?" I ask worried. Only the sounds of the jungle answer me back. I walk further and I'm confused. I know I have arrived to where Philomena died. I sit on the rock that I lied her down and remember the moment. Tears start to fall again but a strong breeze blows right at me and the tears stop. I turn around and I freeze at the sight of it. I stare at the huge field and the breeze blows hard. I know I've figured out what the five to six section is. A violently rotating column of air . . . a mile wide tornado.


	17. Chapter 17

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 17:

Posy's POV:

The trees around me start shaking like crazy, making no way for me to run off. I freeze as the tornado picks up plants and trees.

"Run. . ." I hear a voice inside my head say. "Get out of there. . . Before it's too late. . ." The voice sounds a lot like Philomena. I know she would want me to get out of here. "Run. . .!" I jump out of the rock and run as fast as I can through the field trying to find an exit but there's none. It's like the trees cover every possible exit for me not to get out. I start to panic. The wind blows through my hair and I feel it pushing me towards it. I hold on to a tree and scream for Finnick over and over again; he can't be too far away.

"FINNICK!" I scream. I fall to the ground because of the force of the wind and try to run away from the tornado. I tall figure jumps out from between two trees and runs over to me.

"COME ON, POSY WE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!" screams Finnick at me over the noise of the wind.

"WE CAN'T WE'RE TRAPPED!" I scream. The tornado starts making its way towards of us and we run wildly. We try to find an exit and when we do, the tornado still follows of. I start to slow down as I run out of energy but Finnick grabs my hand and we rush faster. I huge tree that was picked up by the tornado goes flying over to us. It crashes into a force field and explodes into fire; making me and Finnick scream and separate. We both run in opposite directions and I know we are completely lost. I hear him scream for me but the wind is to powerful and I can't turn back for him. I keep running not wanting to stop and my legs are burning. I need to stop for air and gain energy. The wind slowly starts to disappear and I finally drop into the ground and look up at the sky. I breathe heavily and let the pain of my legs calm down. I hear Finnick screaming for me but I don't have the energy to scream back at him. I'm glad when he finds me. Finnick has a cut all the way from his right eyebrow to his ear.

"Are you ok?" Finnick asks me. I sit back up slowly; getting my pulse back to normal.

"Yeah. What happened to you?" I ask to him worried. The wound bleeds down over his cheek.

"Nothing. Just a cut, I'll be fine." says Finnick grabbing moss and putting it on his wound.

"When will you keep yourself out of trouble?" Finnick asks me playfully.

"I don't know. I guess never." I say laughing a little. "Where do you think we are?"

"I don't know." Finnick answers. "Another section?". He helps me up and we look around. After a few minutes, we both hear a couple of branches snap and we keep our eyes alerted.

"Who's there? " Finnick asks loudly. We hear more branches snap and growls. Finnick grabs my hand and keeps me close. We both know there's something out there and we both know it's going to attack sooner or later. Maybe now.

"This is the six to seven section." says Finnick in a whisper. I remember the map that Peeta showed me before and I remember he wrote something bad in it.

"Remember Peeta's map?" I ask almost in panic as more branches snap.

"Yeah, what is it?" Finnick asks me.

"Is a beast." I say. Out of the shadows of the trees, appears a creature with glowing red eyes, large sharp fangs and seems to be about six and half feet tall. It stares at us. My heart pounds fast and I hold Finnick's hand tight. The creature lunges at us and we jump out of the way. Finnick grabs a thick branch and jumps on top of the creature and tries to strangle it. The creature is really strong and Finnick falls to the ground. The thing howls up at the sky like a werewolf.

"What are going to do?!" I ask in panic.

"We need to get out of here!" says Finnick. The creature walks to us and more of his kind joins him. Some of them are smaller or the same size as the creature. Something about these creatures reminds me of the other Victors and Targets that were alive. I see a tall one with eyes like Marco's. I remember little about him because of the memory loss. They all start attacking and me and Finnick try to avoid their fangs and attacks. Finnick manages to kill a few and I've killed none. The leader creature lies on the ground with a broken leg. When Finnick tries to kill more creatures, I come face to face with a creature that seems to be about my size and has big beautiful dark brown eyes. The creature looks at me in the eyes and I know its Philomena.

"POSY KILL IT!" I hear Finnick scream at me as he kills more of them.

"Philomena?" I ask.

"IT'S NOT HER! IT'S A MUTTATION!" screams Finnick at me. "KILL IT BEFORE IT KILLS YOU!" I hesitate at killing it but before what Finnick says sinks in the creature that I thought is Philomena punches me to the ground. The huge creature gets up and gives a powerful punch to the ground and it cracks open. I'm only a few feet away from the crack that opens wider and deeper. I feel hotness coming towards me and I know its lava.

"KILL IT, POSY!" I hear Finnick scream as he throws a creature through the crack that has turned into a large cliff with lave inside. I pick up the branch that Finnick was using before and get up. The creature is too fast for me because when I swing, it grabs the branch and turns it to the run side and I feel a crack on my arm. I know my arm just broke. I scream in pain. The creature throws the branch away and I clutch my broken arm. The creature growls at me and with its long sharp nails scratches my face and pushes me to the crack. I balance myself at the edge and when I'm about to fall I grab the creature's arm and we both fall in. I feel my eye burn from the scratch and I hold on to the edge without my broken arm and hold myself up with a rock that peeks out but it's not that stabled. Finnick throws more creatures into the lava and I hold on for dear life as the creature burns in the lava. I start to scream and cry over the pain and how afraid I am. I get the chance to glance back at Finnick and he has a few cuts on his face and body. Blood drips from my face and I can't touch the wound or I'll fall. I start to slip and the rock I was holding to falls into the lava. I try pushing myself up but I slip every time. I hold on with my broken arm and the pain is horrible.

"FINNICK HELP, I'M FALLING!" I scream in panic as I cry.

"HOLD ON!" screams Finnick at me. He throws another creature to the lava and strangles another.

"I CAN'T!" I scream back. I hold on but I still slip. The ground starts to get hard to hold onto because the cliff is getting wider and I will fall.

"I'M GOING TO FALL, FINNICK!" I scream in panic. I cry even more. I know the audience is at the edge of their seat like I'm at the edge of life and death. It all comes down to me falling if Finnick doesn't help me fast.

"FINNICK!" I scream.

"I'M COMING!" screams Finnick. I cry and my wound stings and my broken arm hurts real bad. Finnick runs over to me while the creature with the broken leg slowly retreats.

"Give me your hand!" yells Finnick and I give him my good arm and he slowly pulls me up. The creatures that survived start retreating. I cry and clutch my arm. Finnick hurries and gets moss for my face.

"Why didn't you listen to me when I told you to kill it?" Finnick asks me.

"I couldn't." I say crying. "It looked too much liked Philomena."

"They were just mutations." says Finnick. "How bad is your arm?"

"Real bad." I say trying not to cry. "I almost died for real."

"You're safe now." says Finnick. He carefully hugs me as I clutch my broken arm.

"Let's get out of here." Finnick say. I nod.

"Going backwards so we won't get attacked by anything else." Adds Finnick. We walk through the section of the tornado where everything is already cleaned up. After a few miles of walking we drop to the ground and rest.

"I'll go search for food." Finnick says. I nod and fall on the roots of the tree like I did when I was in the woods back home and found Maysilee's diary. I miss my family and District so bad and I want to go home. I start crying again and fall asleep without even knowing it. I'm awakening by a little shake to the shoulder.

"Hey, you ok?" Finnick asks me. I nod.

"Sorry I took too long, I got a bit lost." says Finnick.

"I didn't notice you took long." I say sitting up carefully.

"Yeah I realize that now." says Finnick sitting down next to me. We eat the food Finnick got in quiet.

"Do you think the others are ok?" I ask Finnick.

"Hope so. Beetee's got Peeta so they'll be ok and Johanna and Katniss are together; I'm sure they're fine." Finnick says. We sit in quiet and finish the food

"Where are we?" I finally ask. Finnick turns his head side to side and then answers.

"We're in the four to five section. Jabberjays." Finnick says. "Seems to be about seven thirty or something." I look up at the sky and the sunset has turned purple and I didn't even notice.

"Will we find the others?" I ask Finnick.

"I'm sure we will." Finnick says. He gives me a side hug and I lay my head on his shoulder and fall, again, into a deep sleep.

Katniss's POV: (a few hours ago)

Hours have passed since Johanna attacked me and I'm still filled with confusion and staring at nothing but complete darkness. I know I'm lying in the section where something is about to happen. Out of nowhere, my body feels different. The warmth from the jungle has dropped to a cold temperature. This must mean the seven to eight section is Weather Change. Every minute drops two degrees and I can die in 40 degree weather because I'm not dressed properly and I'm exposed long enough. If I don't get out of here I'll surely die. I pull myself up slowly and keep my balance by holding to the trees. I open my eyes and my head spins. I try to keep me balance in control so I won't fall. I slowly walk step by step as the temperature falls. It gets colder and colder and cold breeze brushes through me and it makes everything worst for me. I hear a cannon fire and I'm alerted. I worry if it's Peeta. I try to hurry up, to get to Peeta as fast as I can but my head comes to focus and then spins again. My arm hurts and stings from the wound Johanna has left me. I feel the drops of blood slide down my forearm and drop from my hand to the ground. As the cold breeze passes through the blood it stings even more. Is getting hard for me to breathe and all I want to do now is get out of this section. I keep following my path as my body starts to shiver from the cold and I feel the blood dry and stick on my arm. When I start to feel warm air I feel relieved. I keep my balance slow and steady as I walk out of the seven to eight section and into the eight to nine section. I know I'm not that far away from Peeta but I still hurry up. After a while on walking the eight to nine section I worry for everybody. Beetee and Peeta must be safe. Johanna is out there after somebody and I know she was trying to kill me or something; I can't get that part straight. I'm scared for Posy but deep down I know she's safe since she's with Finnick and Johanna and Finnick are friends, Johanna won't bother to kill Posy because Finnick likes her. Whoever is dead has to be Brutus, Enobaria or Chaff. I walk through the eight to nine section for almost an hour and something must be happening at the seven to eight section. I hurry up and I arrive to the nine to ten section. I'm getting close to Peeta and that helps me hurry up. I hear someone yelling for me, someone nearby. It's Peeta. I get the chance to shout back at him.

"Peeta! Peeta, I'm here!" I shout.

"Katniss!" I hear him yell. I know if I shout I'll get caught by someone but I don't care.

"Peeta, I'm here!" I keep shouting for him. I hurry up and my vision starts to stay longer in focus. I manage to jog out of the nine to ten and into the ten to eleven section. I keep shouting for Peeta but we don't find each other. I hear another cannon. I panic and shout louder and start to run. I don't notice that my feet need a break or anything; I just want to find Peeta. I make it out of the ten to eleven section and I make my way directly to the lighting tree from the eleven to twelve section. I find the lighting tree. On the ground is Beetee wounded and unconscious. I hear Peeta's yells for me echo through the area. I see Beetee's wire attached around the tree but it ends close to the force field. This must've been part of the plan he was keeping to himself. I try to put Beetee's plan together in my mind as Peeta still yells for me. Haymitch's advice from before the games pops into my head. Remember who the enemy is? Remember who the enemy is. . . Now I know who it is and I get Beetee's plan. The real enemy is the Capitol and Beetee's plan is to blow open the force field. Since Beetee can't finish the work then I'll finish it for him. I make myself a bow and an arrow since I lost mine. While making it the hologram video appears up in the sky but I don't bother to even take a small peek at it. I take the end of the wire that lies on the ground and shoot at the vibrating part of the force field and a force of fire knocks me off my feet like last year when I blew up the Carrer's supplies. I feel myself fall and go in complete darkness again.

Posy's POV: (a few hours ago)

Me and Finnick are awaken by an explosion from the sky. A cannon. Someone just died.

"Who do you think just died?" I ask Finnick worried. He shrugs.

"We should get out of here and find the others." says Finnick. When we are about to leave we hear someone nearby.

"Who's there?!" asks Finnick loudly. Brutus runs to us and drops into ground. He's all sweaty and covered in blood. I stand behind Finnick; I don't to do anything with that man. He almost killed me and she killed Philomena. Brutus breathes heavily.

"Where did you come from?" asks Finnick. We're standing feet away from him.

"From the eight to nine section." Sputter Brutus while trying to catch his breath. He has too many wounds. "Earthquake."

"The eight to nine section is an earthquake?" asks Finnick to him. Brutus nods as he coughs up blood. "And you ran all that way?" Brutus nods again as he coughs up more blood and turns himself to his back. Brutus slides his knife to my feet.

"Take me out of my misery. . ." sputters Brutus at me. "You know I deserve it. You know you want to. . ." I pick up the knife and slowly walk towards him. I kneel beside him and stare into his dark eyes. All the hate I have for him and all he did and saw. The feelings clog into a knot and I aim for his abdomen. Instead, I decide to miss and bury the knife next to him on the ground. Brutus looks at me in confusion.

"I'm not like you, Brutus. What you did can never change Philomena's sister's life or mine. I don't take lives away like you. I'll let you die in your misery." I say softly. I leave the knife bury on the ground and walk away slowly. Finnick looks at me surprise.

"Let's go." I say to Finnick and we do. After a few minutes a cannon fires and I know Brutus is dead. The hologram video of the fallen appears up in the sky.

THE FALLEN: District 2 male (Brutus), District 11 male (Chaff) and District 12 female (Katniss).

"NO!" I scream and cry. Katniss is dead, how can this be!? Finnick comforts me and speaks soothing words at me. After hours we hear a huge explosion. It's not a cannon. Behind us a glowing hot light follow us. We run wildly before it catches us.

"IS THAT FIRE?!" I scream at Finnick.

"YES! JUST KEEP RUNNING!" screams Finnick at me. The fire follows us. Then, on the other side is the same fire following. We are surrounded. The two fires are going to crash and there's going to be a huge explosion. Finnick and I jump out of the way and he covers me. There's a huge explosion of fire and a strong force like the world just exploded. I'm left in complete darkness.


	18. Chapter 18

The Quarter Quell

Chapter 18:

Katniss's POV:

I feel myself being rolled in a gurney. My head spins and my vision is focusing but blurry. I'm in the Cornucopia. A hovercraft sits on the ground and there are lots of doctors and all the Gamemakers are here. I fear something bad will happen to me because of what I did. I see Plutarch Heavensbee jogging over to where I am.

"We need to hurry up." says Plutarch catching his breath.

"They're still trying to find Enobaria, Johanna and Peeta, sir." says a doctor that was rolling me. I look further out and see three more gurneys with Posy, Finnick and Beetee. A Gamemaker comes running over to Plutarch.

"Plutarch, there's no more time to search for the others. The Capitol is coming." says the Gamemaker. Plutarch frowns.

"Ok, tell everybody to get on board now." says Plutarch. I stare at him in confusion. He catches my eye and closes them; leaving me in complete darkness and I black out. I wake up and I'm in room with all sorts of tubes. I'm wearing a hospital gown and on both of my sides are windows to another room. On my right lies Beetee and on my left lies Posy with tubes to help them breathe just like me. Except Posy has her arm in a sling. She must've gotten hurt at some point with Finnick. I wonder where Finnick is, he was in a gurney before. I try to free myself from all the tubes and everything that has me stay down. When I finally free myself I make sure nobody is around and I get out of my room. After a couple of minutes of walking while trying not to fall, I realize I'm in the hovercraft that was in the Cornucopia. I try to remember what happened but nothing makes sense. I see door cracked open and people inside. Haymitch, Plutarch and Finnick sit there on a conversation. Finnick sounds upset and Plutarch and Haymitch try to calm him down. I have no idea what's going but I can't help myself from eavesdropping.

"All communications are down on 10, 11 and 12." says Plutarch.

"Will I get home?" asks Finnick.

"There's no way, The Capitol will search for you." says Plutarch. Finnick asks something in a whisper that I don't here.

"I've given special orders for her retrieval. That's all I can do, Finnick." says Plutarch. I see Finnick's face through the crack of the door. He looks really worried and upset.

"What if they kill her and it's too late?' asks Finnick.

"They won't do that. You know they'll keep her alive for bait." says Haymitch. The next thing I know is that I burst through the door. Finnick looks seriously beat up and hurt. Plutarch and Haymitch both look perfectly fine. The daylight screams through the windows and it stings my eyes.

"Done beating yourself up already, sweetheart?" asks Haymitch. I give him a smirk. Haymitch settles me in a chair next to Finnick and Plutarch orders me a plate of food for me to dine on. I start asking millions of questions but Haymitch cuts me off and explains me everything that happened from the moment the Quell was announced to now. Haymitch tells me that there was a plan to break us of the out arena when the Quarter Quell was announced. They're helping stage a rebellion against the Capitol. The lightning strike against the wire was part of a plan to allow the tributes to escape from the arena and only a few Victors new about the plan. Haymitch then explains that what Johanna did to me was to save me, not kill.

"Why weren't me and Peeta informed?" I ask with a hint of rage in tone of voice.

"Because once the force field blew you two would be the first to be captured. The less you knew the best." says Hatmitch.

"Why didn't you leave me to die? None of this would be happening." I say.

"We needed to save you because you're the Mockingjay." Plutarch says. "While you live, the revolution lives." The Mockingjay. Everything fits. The bird, the pin, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that bursts into flames. I am the Mockingjay; the one that survived the despite of the Capitol's plans. I am the symbol of the rebellion.

"What about Posy?" I aks.

"Posy didn't actually matter until we realize that she was alive. She's involved as much as you are and her act has leaded more risks to a rebellion." says Haymitch. I'm worried.

"Where are we flying to?" I ask.

"District 13." Answers Haymitch. That surprises me since that District was destroyed a long time go on the rebellion.

"Huh?" I ask.

"I said District 13. Do we need to get that ear fixed again?" asks Haymitch.

"No. I mean, District 13 was destroyed. How can it still be there?" I ask.

"It's not above ground, but underground." Plutarch says. I'm left confused so Haymitch explains to me. Haymitch says that all the evidence of District 13 not being destroyed is in the video they show of the ruins. Apparently on the background, it shows a mockingjay taking off. They've being repeating the same footage every time and they figured out thanks to the mockingjay.

"Ok, but what makes you think they're actually there?" I ask.

"We made contact with them. This hovercraft belongs to them." Haymitch says. I can't argue with that. But it makes me mad that District 13 exists. They've been sitting around while they watch us, other Districts die! It makes my head hurt actually thinking about it.

"Where's Peeta?" I ask looking down at my feet.

"He was captured by the Capitol along with Johanna and Enobaria. We didn't have a lot of time to get all of you." Answer Haymitch. All the rage now escaped and I punch Haymitch. We start shouting terrible things at each other. Finnick and Plutarch try to pull me away but even on how I'm feeling I can fight. I feel a hurtful sting on my neck and I black out. I awake again on another room with the tubes but this time I have something holding me by my arms and legs. It's keeping me from moving; from letting me free. I stare up at the ceiling and hear my door creak open after an hour. I look to my side and Finnick grabs a chair and sits besides my bed.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. I wanted to go back for Peeta but I couldn't move. I felt terrible pain and my vision was blurry. If I wasn't in that condition I would've gone looking for him." says Finnick. I stare back up at the ceiling. I don't answer.

"Look, they'll figure out they're useless. Soon they'll figure out that he doesn't know anything and won't kill him if they think they won't use him against you." says Finnick.

"Like they'll use the love of your life as bait?" I say to the ceiling. I hear Finnick weeping but I don't care.

"I wish we were all dead, it'd be easier." says Finnick. I sort of disagree with him. I want Peeta back. If he were dead, was there for me to live for other than Prim? I don't response again.

"I'm really sorry, Katniss." Finnick says. I hear him get up and he gives me a kiss on the cheek; and leaves. I refuse food, water and company. All I want to do is be alone.

Posy's POV: (hours before)

I wake up and I'm in room all alone. I'm so confused and tired of being it. I remember the fire that was chasing me and Finnick and the explosion. Everything went black after that and now I'm here. Did Finnick die? Am I a Victor? I don't know. I lie in my bed for what feels like hours. I see my door open and my family comes in. I'm so happy to see them that I start to cry. I hug my mom so tight with my only good arm since my other one is in a sling. I see an X-ray of my arm on the wall. There's a bone completely out of where it should be.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" says Mom crying happily.

"What happened?" I ask.

"I am not so sure, honey." Mom says. I hug Vick, Rory and Gale tight. I notice that they are covered in burns and they have wounds, which have being bandaged, on them but I don't bother to ask since I've being through much worse.

"Mom," I say starting to cry. "Do you think God will throw Philomena down with the devil because she didn't believe in him?" My mom sits on my bed and hugs me again.

"I don't think God will do that to that little girl." says mom. I cry and my family comforts me. Later then, my family is told to go outside and Haymitch, the Head-Gamemaker and Finnick coming in. I'm not sure if I should be worried or happy to see Finnick alive.

"Hello, Posy." says the Head-Gamemaker shaking my hand softly. "I am Plutarch Heavensbee." I don't smile or respond. "I've come to explain what's happened." Once in a while I glance at Finnick as Haymitch and Plutarch explain to me what happened. I do wonder why they're saying this to me when I don't think it involves me in any chance. I tell them that; they answer by telling me that by me being alive has made things worse and I've helped make the rebellion be more real. I'm shocked by all this; I ask them about Katniss and they tell me she's alive and I'm relieved. When they're about to leave I grab Finnick's arm and he stays back. Tears stream down my face.

"What will happen now?" I ask Finnick worried. He kneels next to my bed and wipes away my tears.

"I don't know. But I'm sure we'll all be fine." Finnick says with a smile.

"Where are we going?" I ask him.

"A special place where will be safe." Finnick answers. He leaves with those words and my question to where exactly hanging in my mouth. My family comes back in.

"Was everything okay?" my mom asks me worried.

"Fine. Are we going home?" I ask.

"Not exactly." Gale says. Again I'm so confused; But where ever it is, I hope it's safe with my family and I hope I meet Prim there.

Katniss's POV:

I stare at my ceiling for hours. I hear my door creak open again and I'm happy to see Gale coming in.

"Hey, Catnip." Gale says.

"Gale." I whisper. I meet his eyes as he sits down on the chair that Finnick was in. I notice burns on his body, wounds covered with bandages and his arm is in a sling. I'm worried.

"What happened?" I ask him worried.

"Everyone's okay. I broke my arm rescuing Prim." Gale says. "I got her out in time."

"They're not home?" I ask.

"The Capitol attacked when the arena exploded." He hesitates. "You must know what happened." I shake my head.

"What happened?" I ask. Gale doesn't respond; instead he stares down at his feet.

"What happened?" I repeat more worried and anxious.

"Katniss," says Gale softly. My heart stops. "There is no District 12."

THE END

Coming soon. . . "The Rebellion"


End file.
